CHIANG RAI – Narcotics Suppression Bureau police tracked and stopped a sewage vacuum truck carrying more than 8 million methamphetamine pills. The driver, a 39-year-old man from Uttaradit, told police he took the job for 500,000 baht, but officers caught him before the load reached its destination.
The arrest was announced at 5:00 p.m. on February 17, 2026, at the narcotics checkpoint in Nakhon Sawan. Police said the traffickers used a sewage suction truck to hide the drugs during transport.
Police began the operation after receiving a tip from an informant. The source warned that a group was moving drugs from the northern border area to customers in the South and nearby provinces.
Investigators said the traffickers planned to conceal the narcotics inside a vehicle and travel through several provinces, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampang, Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani, and Suphan Buri, before continuing toward the southern region. As a result, officers set up surveillance and prepared to intercept the shipment.
On February 16, 2026, around 12:05 p.m., an operations team watching Highway 333 (Ban Rai to Dan Chang) in Huai Haeng Subdistrict, Ban Rai District, Uthai Thani, spotted a vehicle matching the tip.
The truck, license plate 70-4538 (Buriram), was heading toward Ban Rai. Officers followed it, then stopped the vehicle for a search and brought it to the Phayuha Khiri vehicle checkpoint for inspection and X-ray screening.
Police said the search uncovered about 8,394,000 methamphetamine pills (Category 1 narcotics), hidden inside a modified tank at the rear of the truck, in the section designed to hold waste.
The driver told investigators he was hired by a drug network and promised 500,000 baht. He said he had received some money for fuel and was supposed to deliver the truck to Suphan Buri, but police stopped him before he could complete the trip.
Authorities said they already know who hired the driver. Officers are now gathering evidence to request arrest warrants and expand the investigation to target the wider trafficking network.
