BANGKOK, Jan 18 –Saraburi highway police seized over 2 million pills of methamphetamine (meth) worth Bt600 million hidden in a pickup truck heading towards Bangkok.
Deputy national police commander Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung and Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) secretary-general Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen jointly chaired a press conference on the seizure of 2,244,000 meth pills in the central province of Saraburi.
The meth pills were wrapped in waxed paper and packaged in 12 sacks
Saraburi highway police had set up a checkpoint on Highway number 21 (Pukhae-Lonsak road) in Chalermphrakiat district and noticed a black pick up truck driving at high speed.
The driver defied a police order to stop the vehicle and turned the truck around to escape the police.
The police followed the truck for about 20 kilometres into the provincial seat, where the truck then lost control and hit a railtrack fence.
Two smugglers abandoned the vehicle and fled from the scene.
The police found the drugs after searching the truck.
Police said there were six smugglers in three cars. It was believed that the smugglers may be members of drug lord Yi Say’s trafficking network.
The drugs were enroute to customers in Bangkok, police said.
In the southern province of Surat Thani, police arrested Saudee Jehha, deputy chairman of Narathiwat’s Bang Po Tambon Administration Organization as he was smuggling 200,000 meth pills valued at Bt60 million.
Mr Saudee told police that he took advantage of rallies in Bangkok to smuggle the drugs into southern provinces.
In the northen province of Chiang Mai, Mr Somkiat Wiboonsantisuk was arrested by police as he picked up a 4 kilogram parcel of crystal meth or “ice” worth Bt20 million.
He told police that the parcel was mailed from the northeastern province of Khon Kaen and he was delivering the drug into the southern provinces.
He was paid Bt30,000 for each shipment.
