PUBLISHED : 8 Aug 2023 at 04:00
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: A member of an international criminal network which transported 851 kilogrammes of ketamine worth 2.25 billion baht was arrested in Hua Sai district following a three-month investigation, police said.
Pol Maj Gen Somchai Suetortrakul, commander of the provincial police, said yesterday that the network, based in Lampang, had criminal ties in Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.
The gang had members who transported drugs from the North to the deep South, he said.
The police did not disclose the name of the suspect due to their plan to expand the investigation to arrest more gang members, he said.
He said provincial police three months ago received a report from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau about the gang’s drug transport operation to other countries via the southern provinces.
The network used several routes in provinces like Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat to avoid police detection before exiting the country via Ranong, he said.
After three months of tracking, a six-wheeled lorry and a white Mitsubishi Pajero, part of a drug transport plan, were spotted parking in front of a petrol station along the Nakhon-Songkhla road in Hua Sai district on Friday, he said.
Police monitored the area for half an hour before arresting the lorry’s driver, he said, noting the other car’s driver may have escaped minutes after the lorry driver was arrested.
Police seized the lorry, and inside the Pajero, they found 62 packs of ketamine weighing 851kg, worth 2.25 billion baht in total on the international market, he said. The investigation is ongoing, he said.