Police arrested a drug courier and seized 550 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana from his pickup truck in Sakon Nakhon province early Thursday.
A team of Crime Suppression Division police arrested Wanchai, or Chai, Phladsu, 34, after they 550 slabs of compressed marijuana, each weighing a kilogramme, were found in in his vehicle on Nong Waeng-Ban Dung Road in Wanon Niwat district of this northeastern province.
The arrest followed information that a drug gang would smuggle marijuana from Laos into inner areas via Seka-Akat Manuai route in Bueng Kan province, said the arresting team.
The officers were deployed along the route and stopped for a search of the suspected vehicle in Sakon Nakhon province.
During questioning, Mr Wanchai confessed to having been hired by an unidentified man for 10,000 baht to deliver the drugs to a customer in Udon Thani. The man who hired him drove another vehicle along the route and managed to flee, said Mr Wanchai.
He was charged with colluding in possessing drugs in category 5 with intent to sell before being handed over to Wanon Niwat police for legal action.
Packs of compressed marijuana seized from the drug courier in Sakon Nakhon are displayed durign a media briefing. (Photo supplied: Wassayos Ngamkham)