Acting on a tip-off, police tailed Pratuang “Bang Het” Kaneungkarn, 36, a resident from Pa Khlok, after he boarded a bus in Nong Khai, more than 1,400 kilometres away in Thailand’s northeast, on Sunday (July 22).
Pratuang got off the bus at Wat Pa Tha Noon in Phang Nga, just north of Phuket, yesterday (July 23) where Saithip “Mae” Boonjan, 39, also a resident of Pa Khlok, and Likit “Liw” Srihanon, 27, registered as living in Khon Kaen, were waiting for him with a pickup truck.
That’s when police moved in and arrested the three, seizing the pickup truck, three mobile phones and the black bag that Pratuang was carrying the drugs in on the bus.
The three were taken to the Phuket Checkpoint at Tha Chatchai, at the northernmost tip of Phuket, for questioning.
According to police, the suspects confessed that Pratuang had picked up the drugs from in front of a room at a hotel in Nong Khai.
Pratuang said that the plan was for him to take a boat with Sithip and Likit to Ta Sak Pier in Pa Khlok to avoid police, said the police report.
All three were charged of possession of Category 1 drug with intent to sell, police noted.