CHIANG RAI, 23 June 2014, – Authorities in Chiang Rai have thwarted a car smuggling operation, seizing a truck before being transported to a neighboring country.
Commander of the Mekong Navy patrol force, Captain Phanu Rattananantawatee, yesterday led a team of the Royal Thai Navy, Chiang San district police, and rangers patrolling in the area along the Mekong River bank in Bansantonpao Sub-district, after receiving an anonymous tip-off that a car smuggling ring was going down to the area.
Officials discovered 200-meter long tyre tracks that led to a local corn field and, eventually, to the Mekong River. Upon arriving at the smuggling scene, officials found a pickup truck with a Chaing Rai license plate abandoned at the river bank. The vehicle, securely locked, was ready to be transported to one of the the neighboring countries.
The police towed the truck back to the police station in Bansaew Sub-district in Chiang San District and contacted the registered owner, Miss Supranee Butrchan, 27, a local of Ubonratchathani Province, for further inquiry.
