SONGKHLA: A large smuggling operation of almost 1 million speed pills with a street value of 48 million baht stowed inside a pick-up truck has been thwarted by authorities on its way to the three southernmost provinces.
On Tuesday night, Pol Col Kongtup Senatip, director of Saba Yoi police station in Songkhla, assigned deputy investigator Pol Capt Taned Mahuntamak and five other policemen to carry out surveillance in tambon Jahan of Saba Yoi District in Songkhla following a tip-off a "yaba" drug haul was going through the area.
The team then saw a Mitsubishi Triton with Narathiwat licence plates going through a rubber plantation and began a pursuit after the vehicle did not stop for an inspection.
The suspects later abandoned the pick-up truck on a steep hill and ran into nearby woods, causing the truck to slide backwards and damage a police vehicle. It remains unclear how many people were involved as they all got away.
Police found a large plastic bag near the rear passenger seat containing 954,000 yaba pills in total, wrapped into 157 bricks of 6,000 pills each and three bricks of 4,000 pills each.
Police suspected that the drugs were likely being smuggled to the three southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. Authorities were investigating who the vehicle belongs to in hopes of identifying the group’s operation and network.
