SONGKHLA — A couple were arrested after 30 million baht worth of speed pills and heroin were found hidden in their pickup truck loaded with coconuts on Saturday morning.
Officers inspect packages of illicit drugs, containing 66,000 speed pills and 13.5kg of heroin, taken from a pickup truck loaded with coconuts in Chana district of Songkhla on Saturday. (Photo by Wichayant Boonchote)
A team of local police and narcotics suppression officers, led by Songkhla deputy police chief Pol Col Supawat Thapkliew, stopped the tarpaulin-covered pickup with a Chumphon licence plate at a security checkpoint at Ban Khuanmeed in Chana district of this southern province at 9.30am on Saturday.
When they pulled back the tarpaulin, officers found boxes containing 66,000 methamphetamine pills and 13.5 kilogrammes of heroin wrapped in packages hidden under a pile of coconuts. The drugs were worth about 30 million baht, said police.
Driver Prasong Taksinla, 27, and his wife Rungratchanee Phetcharak, 35, were held on drug charges.
Investigators said the drugs had been smuggled form the North and were destined for a dealer in Narathiwat.
They said authorities had earlier arrested members of a drug network and the extended investigation led to Saturday's arrest in Songkhla.