Songkhla: A Malaysian man has been arrested at a resort in Hat Yai district on suspicion he was planning to smuggle 64kg of marijuana into Malaysia, according to local police.
Yures Dinakaran, 36, was caught as he was about to transport the dried marijuana hidden in the back a Honda Accord sedan, according to police.
Pol Col Kittichai Sankathavorn, chief of Hat Yai police, led the raid on the resort. He said the spare tyre storage bay and back seat compartment had been converted into hidden compartments for holding the drug.
The marijuana is estimated to have a street value of 10,000 baht/kg and would fetch three times that price in Malaysia, the district police chief said.
Mr Yures allegedly admitted he was paid 30,000 baht per trip to deliver the marijuana from Hat Yai to Penang in Malaysia. Police said he has smuggled the drug from Hat Yai four times.
He entered Thailand through the Sadao checkpoint last Friday and picked up the marijuana from a local supplier. He later checked into the resort where he packed the drugs in the car, officers claimed.
Police charged Mr Yures with possessing marijuana with the intent to sell. He said he was hired by a Thai masseuse named Ong Fong in Penang.
