NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Two members of a major drug network have been arrested with more than 2.6 million speed pills worth over 200 million baht in Non Daeng district.
Arthon Thongjaeng, 41, and his girlfriend Nichaphat Chanthonok, 29, both from Phetchabun province, were apprehended with 2,682,000 speed pills seized, Pol Lt Gen Poonsap Prasertsak, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 3, said during a media conference on Wednesday.
The arrests came after police stopped a suspected pickup with Rayong licence plates, which later turned out to be fake, at a road checkpoint in Non Daeng district at around 9am on Tuesday.
The driver, who was later identified as Arthon, and his girlfriend acted suspiciously and refused to let police search the vehicle. They tried to bribe the officers, but unsuccessfully. The police then searched the back of the pickup truck and found several fertiliser bags containing 2.6 million speed pills, said Pol Lt Gen Poonsap.
During the interrogation, Arthon and Nichaphat confessed to having been hired by a drug network to transport the drugs from a petrol station in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district to a client in Khon Kaen. If the drugs were successfully delivered, they would be paid 60,000 baht.
Police said the drugs had a street value of over 200 million baht. They were extending the investigation to arrest those involved.
Pol Lt Gen Poonsap Prasertsak, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 3, right, announces the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of speed pills worth over 200 million baht during a media conference in Nakhon Ratchasima on Tuesday. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert)