A 19-year-old Laotian has been arrested for possession of 297 packs of marijuana. Each pack weighed around 1 kilogram. He was arrested in a convenience store in Nakhon Phanom Province. The police also confiscated the truck he was using to carry the drug.
The bust was an extended operation from another seizure made on April 29 in Nonthaburi Province, where a woman who had connections with drug smugglers in Laos was arrested. The police then used her to make a call to order the 297 kilos of dope.
The Laotian smuggler confessed that he smuggled in the marijuana from Laos by hiding it in a long-tailed boat crossing the Mekong. He said he usually received B80,000 per delivery.
He was charged with drug possession and illegal entry into Thailand.
Meanwhile, today, in the Mae Fah Luang District of Chiang Rai, next to the border with Myanmar, Thai troops clashed with drug smugglers.
MCOT Onlline repoted that five drug smugglers from a "syndicate" were killed and one million methamphetamine pills were seized. It gave no more details.