Officers at the Phuket Checkpoint made a routine check of a white Krabi-registered pickup truck at 6:10pm last night (July 23) while Chaiwat Urairoj, 28, was driving it onto the island.
Police found 4,000 ya bah pills – all in packs of 20 – hidden in the engine bay, and subsequent search found 49 more pills hidden in the driver’s door.
Officers took Chaiwat taken to the nearby Tha Chatchai Police Station for questioning, and where he was charged with possession of Category 1 drug with intent to sell.
Chaiwat told police that a “Mr Bunyee” had hired him to pick up the drugs from “under a tamarind tree” in Hat Yai, in Songkhla province, and deliver them to Phuket.
He was to be paid on delivery, however it was not disclosed how much he was to be paid or where the drugs were to be delivered on Phuket.
Police estimated that the ya bah pills seized, which officers noted were orange and green in colour, were valued at about B390,000.