BANKOK: Railway police Authorities have seized 126,000 methamphetamine pills with a street value of up to 38 million baht in two separate cases in northern Thailand.
In the first case, railway police arrested two Akha hilltribe men for allegedly trafficking 84,000 speed pills from Chiang Mai province to Bangkok.
Officers have stepped up their vigilance against smuggling on packed trains in the lead-up to the New Year festival, said Pol Lt Col Piyarat Suparat, an inspector of the Sila At railway police station in Uttaradit province, where the men were taken off the train.
The increased surveillance resulted in the arrest of Alor Mayer, 20, and Suriyan Kaeoyai, 24, of Phrao district in Chiang Mai. The pair was travelling on a Bangkok-bound express train from Chiang Mai with a wheeled suitcase that was found to contain 42 packs with a total of 84,000 speed pills.
Methamphetamine pills sell for as much as 300 baht each in Bangkok, making the haul worth up to 25.2 million baht.
The inspector quoted the suspects as saying they were being paid 50,000 baht to deliver the illicit drugs to Bangkok.
In another case on Friday night in Chiang Rai, soldiers arrested Janor Jayi, 20, with 42,000 speed pills and 2.8 kilogrammes of opium in his backpack. He was arrested at a checkpoint on a road in Ban Laolee village in Mae Suai district.
His alleged accomplice, identified as Jasor Muser, fled on their motorcycle and is still being sought. Both are residents of Mae Chan district.
