Crime
Couple Busted With Over a Tonne of High-Grade Marijuana
A husband and wife have been busted with more than a tonne of high-grade compressed marijuana in northeastern Thailand. A military task force seized marijuana from their rented vehicle on the bank of the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom late Friday night.
A total of 1,118 packages of compressed marijuana, each weighing one kilogram, were discovered in the couple’s Isuzu MU-7 SUV, according to Col Mongkol Hothong, deputy commander of the Surasak Montri military task force.
Drugs marijuana seized had a street value of at least 10 million baht.
The arrest was the result of an investigation that led to suspicions that illicit drugs were being smuggled through the district of That Phanom in this province. Teams of soldiers deployed along the river bank observed the SUV pull up near Ban Kham Phakphaew village in tTambon Namkham. They pickedup black plastic bags that had been abandoned on the bank.
After approaching the couple, the soldiers asked to search their vehicle, and they found the compressed high-grade marijuana inside.
During questioning, Mr. Abdulrosak, originally from Satun, explained to police that he used to work at a well-known bar in Chon Buri, but that the nightclubs closed due to the pandemic, leaving him jobless.
He claimed a drug gang member approached him and asked for 200,000 baht to transport a shipment of drugs from Nakhon Phanom to southern Thailand while struggling with debt.
The suspect told police he took the job because he could make quick money. Then he rented an SUV and drove with his wife to Nakhon Phanom.
Investigations are being expanded to arrest other individuals involved in the marijuana smuggling ring.
Border security has also been tightened after authorities seized more than five tonnes of high-grade marijuana in the past week.
