Police seize 5 million meth pills in Sakon Nakhon warehouse raid
Hidden pickup truck stash sparks investigation
In Sakon Nakhon, police have confiscated five million methamphetamine pills from a pickup truck parked in a rented, closed warehouse in the Kham Ta Kla district of this northeastern province.
Provincial Police Region 4 investigators executed a search warrant at a warehouse in Moo 16 village, tambon Kham Ta Kla, around 2pm yesterday, August 13.
Inside a four-door Chevrolet pickup with Sa Kaeo licence plates, they discovered 12 sacks containing approximately five million methamphetamine pills, according to Police Major General Phumphat Phattarasriwongchai, head of the region’s investigation division.
To accommodate the drugs, the vehicle’s seats had been removed. The pickup, parked inside the warehouse, was secured with the building’s doors tightly shut.
The seized drugs were subsequently taken to the Kham Ta Kla Police Station for further examination. Police estimated the street value of the pills to be around 1 billion baht (US$30,950,170).
Police Major General Phumphat indicated that the operation was prompted by intelligence gathered over the long holiday weekend about a criminal network smuggling drugs from the Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo into Thailand. The drugs were transported in the pickup truck to be stored in Kham Ta Kla before being moved further into the country.
Initially, police suspected that traffickers were renting a local resort or house for use as a drug storage facility. Their suspicions eventually led them to the rented warehouse in Kham Ta Kla municipality. The owner, a Thai woman, cooperated with the inspection.
The warehouse owner reported that an 18 year old man from Sakon Nakhon rented the premises for 2,500 baht (US$80) per month, claiming he intended to open a car repair shop. He paid two months’ rent in advance but never opened the shop and displayed suspicious behaviour, prompting the owner to inform the police.
Police identified the suspect and confirmed that the pickup’s licence plates were genuine, registered to an individual in Sa Kaeo province with a criminal history involving drug offences. The drugs and the pickup truck have been handed over to Kham Ta Kla police as the investigation continues, reported Bangkok Post.
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