Thai man caught with 60 million baht of drugs in modified car
Suspect says he earns just 3,500 baht to move drugs worth millions
Police officers, together with soldiers and administrative officials, arrested a Thai man with drugs worth 60 million baht hidden in a modified car in Kanchanaburi province yesterday.
The Commander of the 9th Infantry Division, Autsadawut Panyarachun, told the media that local officials had received a tip-off about a major drug trafficking operation from a border area in Kanchanaburi to central Thailand.
Acting on the information, officials set up a checkpoint at Thong Pha Phum Intersection in Thong Pha Phum district and stopped a suspicious vehicle, a white Toyota Alphard minivan. The driver was identified as 51 year old Thai man, Chanathip.
Officials said Chanathip displayed suspicious behaviour, prompting police to detain him and search the vehicle. They discovered that the car was modified with a hidden compartment packed with a variety of illegal drugs.
The seized substances, with an estimated value of over 60 million baht, included:
- 19,800 orange methamphetamine (Yaba) pills, worth 138,600 baht
- 200 green Yaba pills, worth 14,000 baht
- 25 kilogrammes of crystal meth, worth 2,500,000 baht
- 201 kilogrammes of ketamine, worth 56,280,000 baht
Chanathip confessed that he drove the minivan to the Three Pagodas Border Pass in Sangkhla Buri district on September 28. He claimed that an unidentified man later instructed him to modify the vehicle to create hidden storage for the drugs.
The suspect told officers he was paid only 3,500 baht to transport the narcotics from the border to central Thailand, though he did not disclose the intended destination.
Chanathip was taken to Thong Pha Phum Police Station for legal proceedings. Officials confirmed that further investigations would be carried out to arrest others involved.
Another major drug bust was reported in Phuket this week when officials confiscated 500 kilogrammes of crystal meth from a tourist boat.
The boat captain tried to escape arrest by jumping into the sea but drowned. Officers recovered his body and transferred him to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Three other crew members on the boat were arrested.
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