Khon Kaen police seize five million meth pills in major bust
Coordinated crackdown disrupts major pipeline in northeastern drug trade
In Khon Kaen, police seized five million methamphetamine pills in a single day. Highway police arrested a woman transporting four million pills, while the Border Patrol Police Region 2 pursued and apprehended another suspect carrying one million pills.
Border Patrol Police Region 2, under the direction of their intelligence unit, received information about a significant drug operation. They tracked a red MG car with license plate 1119 from Udon Thani on Kud Yang Samakkhi Road in Kalasin province.
The car attempted to flee but was eventually intercepted at a hotel in Mueang district, Kalasin province. Inside, officers found one million methamphetamine pills hidden in five sacks behind the car seats.
Police Major General Kittisak Plathong, the commander of Border Patrol Police Region 2, stated that intelligence suggested a major drug trafficking network was transporting drugs from Laos through Kalasin, destined for Khon Kaen.
A coordinated operation was launched involving the narcotics suppression police, Internal Security Operations Command, Surasak Montri Task Force, Office of the Narcotics Control Board, Kalasin Provincial Investigation Division, and Sahatsakhan Police Station. Led by Police Lieutenant Colonel Komsan Nilsomboon, the team identified the suspect vehicle on Kud Yang Samakkhi Road and pursued it until it was cornered at the hotel.
The driver, Thanaphon Watko, a 26 year old resident of Khamin subdistrict, Kalasin province, was arrested. Thanaphon confessed to being hired by a financier from Laos to transport the drugs from Chanuman district, Amnat Charoen province, to Khon Kaen for 15,000 baht (US$460). He was accompanied by another accomplice who managed to evade capture.
Thanaphon faces charges of distributing a category 1 narcotic (methamphetamine) for sale, contributing to its spread among the public. The investigation is ongoing to further dismantle the network.
Later, at 4.30am, Khon Kaen highway police, in collaboration with the narcotics suppression division, received a tip-off about a suspicious convoy of vehicles on Highway 262, near Ban Thum-Phra Yuen-Manjakiri Road. Officers stopped a suspect vehicle with a female driver acting nervously.
She initially claimed to be visiting her family in Sakon Nakhon before proceeding to Suphan Buri. Upon searching the vehicle, police discovered 4,048,000 methamphetamine pills, reported KhaoSod.
The woman was charged with possession and distribution of a category 1 narcotic for commercial purposes, contributing to its spread and affecting national security and public safety.
She also faced charges for drug use and driving under the influence of methamphetamine. Legal proceedings are ongoing.
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