PATHUM THANI: A routine delivery turned into a major drug bust after a vigilant transport operator raised the alarm about a suspicious request from a customer, which led to the seizure of 520 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine hidden inside industrial freezers.
Pol Lt Gen Yutthana Jonkhun, commander of Pathum Thani Provincial Police, said on Monday that the bizarre chain of events began when a truck driver, hired to transport two freezers from a warehouse in Lam Luk Ka district to a post office in Rangae district in Narathiwat, became suspicious of his client's behaviour.
First, he said the client scheduled the delivery at 4am. When the driver arrived at the warehouse, he was met by two men who wore baggy trousers, long-sleeved shirts, gloves, face masks and caps. They prohibited him from taking pictures of the goods.
As the driver loaded the freezers into the truck, he noticed the clients avoided touching the freezers. They also paid him 38,000 baht in cash, which was unusual, as the transportation company prefers to have the fee sent through a bank transfer.
After the goods were loaded, the clients insisted that the tarpaulin must completely cover the cargo inside the truck. Not long after departing the warehouse, the driver tried to contact the customer through Line, but no one answered his calls, heightening his concerns.
Unsettled by the situation, the driver drove his truck to Lam Luk Ka Police Station to ask for help. Upon investigation, police discovered the shocking truth: inside the freezers, officers found 200 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine. The drugs were concealed in tea bags, each weighing roughly one kilogramme. Those tea bags were hidden inside 10 fertiliser sacks.
The police expanded their search to the warehouse where the driver picked the freezers up. There, they found an additional 320 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, bringing the total haul to 520 kilogrammes. The total street value of the drugs was estimated at about 104 million baht, said the police.
Investigators are now working to find the individuals responsible for the smuggling attempt, he said.
