Col Jiraphop Phuridej said Crime Suppression Division police had learned from intelligence officers that Malaysian drug traffickers had smuggled a batch of drugs into Songkhla.
Their home was identified in Sadao district. The officers then worked with drug suppression officers and their US counterparts from the Drug Enforcement Administration to follow the two suspects – Lau Yong Chee, 35, and Chan Wai Yin, 49.
The suspects were travelling in a black Honda Accord in Bang Klam district when police showed up. They tried to change their route before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing, police said. They were later apprehended.
Some 200kg of ya ice packed in tea bags was hidden in seven sacks in the car.
The suspects confessed and claimed it was their first time smuggling narcotics, police said.
Investigators will follow up leads and search for trafficking channels, they said.
Thai authorities will contact officers in Malaysia seeking cooperation on the case and request the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) seize related assets, Col Jiraphop said.
If the narcotics had been brought into Malaysia the price would have jumped tenfold giving the drugs a street value of more than B6 billion, the police said.
Lt Gen Sommai Kongwisaisuk, commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, said that judging by previous finds the drugs inside the tea bags were believed to have come from the Wa ethnic group living along Thailand’s border.
Meanwhile in Phrae, three men were arrested and more than 1 million methamphetamine pills (ya bah) and 10kg of ya ice seized in two simultaneous operations in Wang Chin district yesterday.
Sian Kanthachai, 45, was caught after he sped off in his pickup truck at Dong Yang checkpoint on Den Chai-Si Satchanalai Road in the district about 7:30am, police said.
A search of the vehicle found 50,000 ya bah pills and 10kg of ya ice hidden in an ice box mixed with vegetables.
Another team manning the same checkpoint arrested two men after 1.09 million ya bah pills were found hidden in their car.
Reda original story here.