Police have seized 435 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine and arrested a man and a woman at a house in Pathum Thani.
The crystal meth, aka “ice”, was destined for smuggling through the South to other countries, Pol Lt Gen Phanurat Lakbun, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said on Monday.
The arrests and seizure occurred at a rented house in Khlong Luang district of Pathum Thani province on Saturday.
The couple allegedly told arresting officers they were being paid one million baht per trip to smuggle the drug to the southern province of Songkhla and they had completed three such trips.
Pol Lt Gen Phanurat said the crystal meth had been produced by ethnic groups near the northern border and smuggled from there to Pathum Thani in the Central Plain for initial storage before being taken south by other smugglers.
Smuggled “ice” was generally not for use in Thailand because it was expensive. Thai drug users preferred methamphetamine pills, he said.
Trafficked crystal meth usually passed through Thailand and Malaysia and then on to other countries like Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the secretary-general said.
Prin Mekanandha, ONCB’s director of narcotics law enforcement, said the seized crystal meth came from the so-called Golden Triangle, where Myanmar, northern Thailand and Laos meet.
Neither of the two arrested suspects had a regular job or profession. However, they sometimes went to Talad Thai market in Pathum Thani and drove vehicles delivering vegetables to other places, he said.
Detectives tracked their movements and found they often drove pickup trucks between the Central Plain and the southern province of Songkhla, Mr Prin said. The arrests followed from there.
The two suspects' names were not disclosed. Police said investigators would delve deeper into the drug network they were involved with, make more arrests and impound suspects' assets.
The arrested suspects with some of the 435kg of crystal meth found at their rented house in Khlong Luang district of Pathum Thani on Saturday. (Photo: ONCB)
