NAKHON PHANOM: Officials seized 610 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana slabs being delivered by smugglers using a tributary of the Mekong River in Tha Uthen district late on Sunday night.
Provincial governor Somchai Witdamrong told a news conference on Monday that a navy patrol came across people unloading sacks from a boat onto the bank of the Songkhram River at Ban Chaiyaburi about 11pm.
The suspects fled when the patrol turned up, leaving behind 15 sacks containing the marijuana.
RAdm Pisit Thongdeelert, commander of the Mekong Riverine Unit, said the sacks contained high quality marijuana freshly wrapped in golden foil. It was probably intended for sale over the New Year.
The price in Thailand would be about 20,000 baht per kilogramme, he said, for a total value of around 12 million baht.
He said about 4 million methamphetamine pills and about a tonne of marijuana had been seized in the province in the past month.