BANGKOK: Five members of a drug gang have been arrested in Chumphon and 366,000 speed pills hidden in a second vehicle seized in Prachuap Khiri Khan after a long car chase, police said on Tuesday.
Theerawut Phorsawang, 25, Prawit Buddee, 28, Ekkawee Wilairat, 30, Damrong Srichuen, 37 and Somkhuan Sutthikarn, 37, all natives of Nakhon Phanom, were initially stopped at Dan Pla checkpoint in tambon Khao Chairat in Pathiu district of Chumphon.
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Pol Lt Gen Thesa Siriwatho, chief of Provincial Police Region 8, told a media conference on Tuesday that police did not find any drugs when they searched the white Isuzu MU-7 utility vehicle with a Bangkok licence plate the suspects were travelling in. The passengers claimed they were heading to a wedding party in Songkhla’s Hat Yai.
Then, a white Mitsubishi Pajero with a Bangkok licence plate was seen approaching the checkpoint from the same direction. The driver suddenly made a quick U-turn and fled. Police gave chase. The vehicle was later abandoned at a resort in neighbouring Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Bang Saphan district.
A search found 366,000 speed pills hidden in the vehicle. The driver, a gang member identified later as Opit Buddee, made good his escape, police said. The seized drugs had an estimated street value of 110 million baht, according to police.
The five suspects detained in Chumphon confessed they had been hired for 500,000 baht to smuggle the drugs from a central province to a delivery point in Hat Yai district, Pol Lt Gen Thesa said.
