Thai police arrest 4, seize 3 million meth pills, about 300kg of ‘ice’ in 2 operations

Pol Lt-General Piya Tawichai, commissioner of the Provincial Police Bureau 5, held a press conference on Tuesday morning to announce the results of the operations.

Eight northern provinces come under the bureau’s jurisdiction, namely Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Nan, Phayao, Phrae, Mae Hong Son, Lampang and Lamphun.

Piya told the press that two suspects were arrested in Lampang’s Mae Phrik district at 6.50am on March 2. Also seized were 2 million meth pills, 297kg of crystal meth or “ice” and 2kg of ketamine.

He said the first case was cracked when Mae Phrik police noticed two suspicious looking pick-up trucks and flagged them down. The first pick-up had a new temporary licence plate, while the second had a built-up rear compartment like the sort used by logistics companies.

Piya said the first pick-up, which was apparently leading the way to look out for checkpoints, managed to flee but was caught in Suphan Buri in the afternoon of the same day.

The other pickup was arrested about three kilometres away from the checkpoint and the driver was arrested. The drug haul was found in this truck’s rear compartment, Piya said.

He quoted the suspects as saying that this was the fifth time they had been hired to smuggle drugs from Chiang Rai to a central province. Each successful trip earned them more than a million baht in cash, they added.

Meanwhile, in an operation in Lampang’s Sop Prap district on Tuesday morning, two individuals were arrested and one million meth pills confiscated.

Piya believes both the hauls belong to the Huay Sai Khao gang, whose five leaders are serving lifetime sentences in Lampang.

The commissioner said his bureau is investigating to see how these gang leaders have been giving out drug shipment orders from their prison cells since 2019.

He suspects the gang turns young drug abusers who land in the same prison into drug mules upon release.