PHAYAO – Police have caught one suspect and are searching for another after a car carrying over 2.8 million meth pills was discovered abandoned in a longan orchard in Dok Khamtai, Phayao.
On Wednesday, police responded after the village chief of Huai Lan reported a suspicious black Mitsubishi sedan with Lampang plates parked in a longan grove in Moo 8, Huai Lan. The vehicle was believed to be linked to drug smuggling activities.
Border Patrol Police had been tracking the car since it left Mae Chan, Chiang Rai. Heavy rain and flooding made the chase difficult, but the car raced into the orchard and was abandoned. Two people, a man and a woman, fled into the nearby forest.
District officials, along with local leaders and volunteers, organized a search in the area. After some time, officers found a woman emerging from the woods. She admitted she had travelled in the car involved.
Police believe the male suspect is still hiding in the forest or has already left the area.
Inside the abandoned car, police found 14 sacks of meth, with each estimated to contain about 200,000 pills. The total haul came to more than 2.8 million pills. Border Patrol Police detained the woman and handed her and the drugs over to investigators.
Authorities suspect this group is linked to a wider drug trafficking network operating near the border and will continue their investigation to pursue any other suspects.
