KHON KAEN: A drug dealer posing as a farm rat catcher has been arrested along with his wife with more than 300,000 speed pills, according to police, who say they were offered a 500,000-baht bribe to release the pair.
Jinda Thaochalee, 41, and his wife Rungthip Sakunphon, 36, were apprehended in Ban Fang district of the northeastern province and 340,000 speed pills seized, Pol Col Thanomsit Wongwijarn, the deputy provincial police chief, said on Saturday.
Mr Jinda was pulled over after local officers on patrol spotted a man acting suspiciously inside a black pickup truck with Kalasin licence plates behind the Wiwektham forest temple in tambon Nong Bua.
The man claimed he was going to catch farm rats, and equipment for hunting rats was found in his vehicle. But the officers noticed he looked frightened when he saw them.
When they asked to search the vehicle, they found 20,000 speed pills hidden inside. The drugs were being delivered to another dealer, they said. The suspect was taken to the Ban Fang police station.
During questioning, Mr Jinda admitted he had more speed pills at his rented house where his wife took care of them.
A police officer shows rat-catching tools seized from the pickup truck of a suspect who was caught with speed pills in Khon Kaen. (Photo: Chakrapan Natanri)
Police then took the suspect to search the house and found another 320,000 pills there. Mr Jinda tried to bribe the arresting team and the officers pretended to accept his offer. When he brought out 500,000 baht in cash and gave it to the police, they immediately detained him and his wife, along with the pills, the bribe money and the pickup, said Pol Col Thanomsit.
Investigators said that Mr Jinda bought drugs from a trafficker in Laos in amounts of 400,000 pills at a time. He distributed the drugs by taking them to certain spots, which he marked with rat-catching tools so dealers would know where to pick them up.
He told police he had been hired for 200,000 baht for each delivery and had made three deliveries.
The couple were held in police custody for further legal action. Police are extending the investigation to arrest others involved.