
NAKHON PHANOM - A transgender man and his girlfriend have been arrested on charges of smuggling 320 kilogrammes of ketamine across the Mekong River in this northeastern province. The drugs were destined for southern Thailand, according to police.
Border patrol police arrested a suspect identified only as Orasa, 35, and his girlfriend Pimchanok, 31, at a resort in Sri Songkhram district on Friday. Seized from their Toyota Camry car with Bangkok licence plates were eight sacks containing 320kg of ketamine in packages.
The drugs, worth about 30 million baht, were destined for the South, said the arresting team.
During questioning, the suspects claimed they had been hired to smuggle the drugs, but authorities were not convinced by their remarks.
Further investigation revealed that the duo were members of a major drug network in the South that made purchases of large quantities of drugs from Laos.
Police are expanding the investigation to find others involved in the smuggling.

Police detain a suspect identified only as Orasa, 35, after smuggled ketamine was found hidden in a car parked at a resort in Nakhon Phanom on Friday. Another suspect is also arrested. (Photo: Pattanapong Sripiachai)