Chiang Rai Provincial Police have announced the arrest of two drug runners and the seizure of 600,000 methamphetamine after they tried to sneak through a checkpoint in Mae Chan District, Chiang Rai.
Police Maj. Gen. Manop Senakul, Commander of Chiang Rai Provincial Police told a press briefing the arrest was made after officers at the Kiew Thap Yang checkpoint when they inspected a parcel delivery vehicle. The pickup was carrying 4 large speaker boxes from Mae Sai District.
Upon inspection, they found that each box contained approximately 100,000-400,000 methamphetamine pills, totaling 600,000 pills. The first three speaker boxes were to go to Kaset Sombun District in Chaiyaphum Province, and the other speaker box was headed to Si Chomphu District in Khon Kaen Province.
The two men were arrested and an initial investigation revealed that they were hired to transport speaker cabinets from Chiang Rai to Chaiyaphum in exchange for 50,000 baht. The suspects were both from Chaiyaphum Province.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Manop said after questioning the two suspects they executed a sting operation having police officers pretend to be employees of a delivery company and deliver the speaker boxes to a destination in the Northeast.
When they arrived at the destination in Ban Pao Subdistrict, Kaset Sombun District of Chaiyaphum Province, they were greeted by two men who were subsequently arrested. Police then search the suspects houses and found two handguns, two shotguns, and a large amount of ammunition and equipment.
All four men have been charged with “jointly distributing narcotics, with the intent to distribute Category 1 narcotics for commercial purposes, and possession of unregistered firearms and ammunition.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Kritthapol said the investigation is still ongoing to hunt down Mr. Chana who was identified as the mastermind of the smuggling operation in Chaiyaphum Province.
He said that if parcel delivery operators, logistics companies, and private companies find any irregularities or suspect criminal activity, they can notify the police officers in Chiang Rai at any of the 25 stations or directly to him so that drugs can be intercepted from the North to the interior of the country.
