Drug gang’s truck crashes with 1.6m meth pills, suspects flee

A drug trafficking gang’s pickup truck, loaded with over 1.6 million methamphetamine pills, crashed after a tyre burst. The suspects fled into a nearby forest, prompting a police manhunt.

At approximately 2.45am today, October 29, Chaiyachai Nathanakarn, the superintendent of Phatthana Nikhom Police Station, led a team to investigate a report from Chaiwat Kuntolthong, a local volunteer and assistant village headman.

The report detailed a suspicious pickup truck that had veered off the road and ended up in a drainage ditch along Road No. 3333, between kilometre markers 16 and 17 in the Dilang area of Phatthana Nikhom district, Lopburi province.

Upon arrival at the scene, officers found an Isuzu D-Max pickup truck with a Saraburi licence plate. The front of the vehicle was heavily damaged, wedged against the embankment at the mouth of a drainage pipe, with a burst front-left tyre and two cracks in the windshield.

A search of the vehicle revealed three sacks of methamphetamine pills in the truck bed, covered with a canvas. Inside the passenger compartment, officers discovered an additional five sacks, all filled with methamphetamine pills.

The driver had already fled, leaving traces that suggested he might be hiding in a nearby cornfield. Police and rescue teams conducted a two-hour search of the area but were unable to locate the suspect.

During the investigation, a mobile phone was found inside the vehicle. It was also discovered that the truck bore a false license plate from another vehicle registered in Phitsanulok. Preliminary investigations have identified the vehicle’s owner, who resides in Phitsanulok, and police plan to summon them for questioning.

Drug trafficking

Chaiwat explained that he had received a notification from the police and the 1669 emergency medical services in Lopburi to check on the pickup truck that had gone off the road. Upon arrival, he found the truck with its horn blaring and had to disconnect the horn’s wiring to stop the noise.

Chaiwat further stated that upon inspecting the vehicle, he found no driver or injured person but instead discovered the sacks filled with methamphetamine pills, prompting him to immediately notify the police.

Chaiyachai stated that the drug trafficking gang likely transported the methamphetamine from the northern region, intending to store it in the central region. They used small community roads to avoid detection during the late hours.

He added that the vehicle was heading towards the Saraburi-Lom Sak road intersection when the tyre burst, causing the driver to lose control and crash into the ditch. Unable to extricate the vehicle from the mud, the driver abandoned it and fled, reported KhaoSod.

Chaiyachai also noted that the eight sacks of methamphetamine pills, estimated to contain over 1,600,000 pills, have a street value of more than 10 million baht (US$296,150). Chaiyachai added that the police will coordinate with the Lopburi forensic team to further inspect the vehicle for latent fingerprints and to verify the exact quantity of methamphetamine pills.