Two members of a drug-trafficking gang have been arrested and 100kg of crystal methamphetamine worth about 300 million baht seized in Chumphon’s Pathiu district, police said on Saturday.
Songkran Omkorkul, 32, a resident of Udon Thani’s Ban Dung district, and Somchai Thajampa of Roi Et’s Kaset Wisai district were taken to a police press conference in Chumphon on Saturday.
Police also displayed 100 packs of crystal methamphetamine, weighing 100kg in total, a black Isuzu pickup truck, and a white Toyota Camry sedan seized from them. The drugs had a market value of over 300 million baht, Thai media reported on Saturday.
Pol Maj Gen Somchai Nimitbovornkul, deputy commander of Police Region 8, said it was the largest seizure of the illicit drugs in the South. Authorities would extend the investigation to arrest other gang members.
The seizure of the drugs came after Chumphon police tried to stop the black pickup truck, driven by Mr Songkran, at a checkpoint in Pathiu district. However, the driver refused to comply and sped away, prompting police to follow him.
While the officers were chasing, the same pickup truck emerged from a soi near the entrance of the agricultural promotion and cooperatives office 4, about 4km from the checkpoint. This prompted the police to cut in front to block the vehicle.
Mr Songkran was caught on the spot and confessed that he had fled to hide the drugs at a scrub inside the soi. He was taken to see the hideout of the drugs where authorities found the crystal meth hidden in five rucksacks.
Mr Songkran told police he had been hired to smuggle the drugs from a riverbank of the Mekong River in Udon Thani’s Nong Han district. There were four vehicles used in the smuggling, with the drivers being paid 200,000 baht each.
Three of the vehicles were leading the way and drivers would alert him if there were any police checkpoints, said the suspect. The vehicles were travelling about 5km ahead of each other, he said. His pickup was the fourth vehicle, with the drugs hidden inside.
As his accomplices had told him that there were no police checkpoints, he drove the vehicle along the road, but found police were setting up a temporary checkpoint on the road. This prompted him to flee.
While police were interrogating Mr Songkran, the white Toyota Camry driven by Mr Somchai arrived at the scene as he lost contact from Songkran.
Police said the duo confessed that they had earlier made four trips to smuggle illicit drugs from the Mekong River. His gang had smuggled 200,000 speed pills in the first trip, 100kg of crystal meth in the second one, 50 kg of crystal meth in the third and another 80 kg of crystal meth in the fourth trip. Drugs in the first three trips were delivered to Ayutthaya’s Wang Noi district and the fourth trip to Phatthalung.