NAKHON PHANOM: A combined government unit seized 484 kilogrammes of dried marijuana in an operation on the bank of the Mekong river in That Phanom district late on Sunday night.
Samart Suwanmanee, the That Phanom district chief, said the action was taken with information supplied by defence volunteers in villages along the river.
Late on Sunday night, while the combined civilian-police-military unit was lying in wait on the Mekong river bank near Ban Sai Mun village in tambon Nam Kam, a long-tail boat was seen arriving with four to five men on board. The men then unloaded a number of black sacks onto the bank.
As members of the unit crept towards them, the smugglers sensed the movement and fled on the long-tail boat.
They abandoned 11 black sacks containing 484 packages of dried marijuana, each weighing 1kg, on the river bank.
More than 3 tonnes of marijuana were seized after being smuggled across the river from Laos during the past three months, Mr Samart said.