Highway police in Nakhon Sawan province have seized 7.6 million speed pills hidden inside a generator and arrested four suspected members of a drug smuggling gang.
All four men involved in the operation – identified only as Chatree, Phithak, Suthin and Songyot – were apprehended at separate locations in the northern province on Monday night, said highway police.
In addition to the speed pills, authorities seized an Isuzu pickup truck, a generator, a BMW X1, an Isuzu MU-X sport utility vehicle and six mobile phones from the suspects.
The arrests followed information received by officers from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) that a large consignment of methamphetamine pills was being transported from the northern border region to distributors in the Central Plains. The gang was using a pickup truck to transport the drugs, with two cars travelling ahead to check the route and police checkpoints.
Highway police later spotted the three vehicles travelling together in Nakhon Sawan and moved to intercept and search them.
The officers first stopped the white Isuzu MU-X, driven by Suthin with Songyot as a passenger, in tambon Yan Matree in Phayuha Khiri district. They were using mobile phones and taking part in a group chat via Line to report on the route.
Another team of highway police intercepted the white Isuzu pickup driven by Phithak at the Dechatiwong intersection on Phahon Yothin Road in tambon Pak Nam Pho of Muang district. A search of a generator loaded on the bed of the pickup found 19 sacks containing about 7.6 million speed pills hidden inside.
Police also stopped the white BMW X1 driven by Chatree in tambon Thapkrit Tai of Chum Saeng district. A check found that he was wanted on an arrest warrant issued in September last year in a drug case.
All four suspects were taken into custody along with the seized evidence. During questioning, the suspects reportedly confessed to transporting the drugs.
They told investigators they had been promised a total of 400,000 baht upon successful delivery and had already received advance payments of 40,000 baht each.
They were charged with possession and distribution of a Category 1 narcotic.
All were handed over to investigators at the NSB for legal action. Authorities are expanding the investigation to identify and arrest other members of the trafficking network.