Six drug couriers have been arrested with 7 million speed pills seized from their pickup truck in Chiang Saen district of Chiang Rai, authorities said on Saturday.
The arrests came after narcotics suppression police learned that a trafficking gang from Phra Phutthabat district in Saraburi province was about to smuggle large quantities of drugs from the Thai-Myanmar border in Chiang Rai.
On Friday the officers spotted a pickup truck they believed to be carrying the drugs travelling along the Chiang Saen-Chiang Rai road. They followed the vehicle to a rented house at San Makhed village in the border district of Chiang Saen.
Three and three women were found inside the house. Two pistols were seized from them.
A search found 35 fertiliser sacks, each containing about 200,000 speed pills, or about 7 million pills in total, in the pickup.
Authorities identified the six suspects only as Arthit, 39, Chakkraphan, 27, Supamas, 25, Kaweewan, 26, Pratthana, 24, all from Phra Phutthabat district in Saraburi, and Nakharit, 40, of Sa Kaeo province.
During questioning, the suspects reportedly told the arresting officers that they had rented the house to store drugs pending delivery to dealers in inner regions of the country. The suspects admitted they had made three deliveries previously.
They are being held in police custody for further legal action.
The speed pills seized in Chiang Rai were to be distributed by a trafficking gang based in Saraburi province, authorities say. (Photo: Royal Thai Army)