LAO officer’s pill-fering antics: Trafficking two million amphetamine pills
A senior officer from a Local Administrative Organisation (LAO) in Lopburi province has been apprehended for trafficking two million amphetamine tablets. The officer, who confessed to having been involved in 12 such operations, was paid 150,000 baht per job.
Police officers from Chiang Rai’s Provincial Police Division, Pan Police Station, Border Patrol Police Division 5, Northern Border Drug Prevention and Suppression Centre, Army Narcotics Suppression Centre, and the Office of Narcotics Control Board, today expanded their drug investigation efforts.
The LAO senior officer was arrested after a suspicious group of unemployed ethnic women, who inexplicably had the funds to purchase land for a car park near the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Chan District, Chiang Rai, were identified.
The property of the women was surrounded by a tight fence and covered with a tarp, and vehicles from the Thai-Myanmar border area would enter and exit after midnight, many of which had fake or disguised license plates.
Officers yesterday spotted a white Toyota car with a Saraburi license plate entering the car park for approximately five minutes before leaving. The car evaded police inspection at the Kew Thap Yang checkpoint on Phaholyothin Road in Mae Chan District, took a detour around the city, and returned to Phaholyothin Road heading towards Pan District, which borders Mae Jai District, Phayao Province, in order to enter the country’s interior, reported KhaoSod.
Upon inspection at the Pu Kaeng checkpoint in Mae Yen, Pan District, it was discovered that the car was driven by 33 year old Sub-Lieutenant Suphakorn who was serving as a deputy director of an LAO in Lopburi province. He was wearing a government uniform and had a khaki government shirt hanging in his car.
Inside the car, 10 sacks were found in black plastic bags and various locations such as the back seat, foot space, and car trunk. Each sack contained approximately 200,000 amphetamine tablets, totalling two million tablets.
Suphakorn was then arrested and initially charged with being a government official in possession of category 1 narcotics (amphetamine) for trade and causing widespread distribution among the public, affecting the state’s stability or public safety.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Suphakorn admitted to being hired by a woman to transport narcotics 12 times since April of this year, delivering them to the central region in exchange for a fee of 150,000 baht (US$ 4,100) per trip. He received an advance payment of 25,000 baht each time.
This time, he rented a sedan and drove to Mae Chan District. He stated that two men and women received the car and returned it to him before he drove back to the central region.
Suphakorn avoided the Kew Thap Yang checkpoint and returned to Phaholyothin Road intending to go to Phayao Province. He did not have a convoy or follow-up car but was arrested at the Pu Kaeng checkpoint. Officers subsequently handed him over to the investigation officer, along with the evidence, for further legal proceedings.
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