CHUMPHON: A man was arrested in possession of 200 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine valued at 600 million baht in Muang district on Thursday morning.
The suspect was identified as Ong-art Laowang, 32, a Chiang Mai resident.
He was apprehended by local highway police on Highway 41, heading South in tambon Thung Kha.
The vehicle he was driving, a bronze Toyota pickup truck with Chiang Mai licence plates, was impounded. (continues below)
The pickup, loaded with sacks of rice, was pulled over after officers on a regular patrol noticed the driver acting suspiciously.
The truck was searched and the crystal meth, or ya ice, found in 200 packages hidden among the rice inside the sacks.
Each package bore a logo of five red stars. Police put the value at 600 million baht.
Mr Ong-art confessed under questioning he was paid 10,000 baht to smuggle the drugs from Suphan Buri, police said. It was destined for a client in the southern province of Surat Thani.
Police widened the inquiry and found the man had allegedly been trafficking drugs for a long time. He obtained crystal meth from a gang on the border in the North and delivered it to customers in the southern region.
He was held for legal action and the confiscated drugs and the vehicle handed over to the Central Investigation Bureau for further investigation into the drug syndicate.
