Drug-running couple busted on highway with '200,000 meth pills concealed in car'
A drug-running couple were arrested with 200,000 meth pills allegedly hidden in their car in a highway raid in Thailand.
Somchai, 48, and Chanakarn, 50, were stopped on Highway 32 in Ayutthaya as police linked them to a trafficking network supplying drugs to dealers in Bangkok.
Police surveilled the route following reports that the pair carried out drug runs in a black Daihatsu sedan.
They spotted the vehicle travelling along the Asian Highway on June 1 before moving in for an arrest.
Footage shows police cars surrounding the black sedan as it pulled over on the roadside as officers searched the vehicle and discovered 100,000 methamphetamine pills in yellow-wrapped parcels.
The packages were concealed in secret compartments on the rear doors.
The alleged drug couriers were taken for questioning. They were charged with jointly distributing Category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine) with intent to sell.
During interrogation, Somchai allegedly confessed and revealed that more meth was being stored at a rented house in Lampang province.
Police raided the property and found a backpack containing another 100,000 methamphetamine pills in a bedroom.
They also seized packaging materials including adhesive tape, plastic bags and tape dispensers believed to have been used in the distribution operation.
Officials said the raid followed the earlier seizure of nearly 300,000 methamphetamine pills from a trailer truck in Surat Thani.
The couple were identified as the drug runners for that case.
The Central Investigation Bureau said the case 'reflected a well-planned smuggling operation designed to deceive authorities'.
The agency said: 'This arrest is considered a significant breakthrough in a northern drug network aiming to distribute narcotics into Bangkok.'
Thailand has become a notorious hub for drug production and trafficking. In the north of the country, the ‘Golden Triangle' area shares borders with Laos and Myanmar, and has produced large amounts of opium since the 1950s but focus in recent years has shifted to the more profitable methamphetamine.
Officials believe most of the meth is produced in the Shan State of Myanmar before being distributed through neighbouring countries where prices are higher before ending up in the most expensive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.
However, cracking down on drug production has been complicated by the influx of crime gangs from China and the Burmese civil war, which has seen the army take over the country - along with control of lucrative drugs chains.
