Four men were arrested with 1,824 kilogrammes of dried marijuana in their possession in this northeastern province on Wednesday morning, Provincial Police Region 3 commissioner Pol Lt Gen Somprasong Yenthuam said.
The arrests followed a tip-off that a large quantity of compressed marijuana would be moved from Khon Kaen to Nakhon Ratchasima along the Mitrapap highway.
Police teams were deployed along the route to intercept it.
Early on Wednesday, the teams stopped three vans travelling between Sida and Non Daeng districts.
The first vehicle, bearing the sticker of a Thai media association, was the vanguard, a travelling lookout.
The two other vans were loaded with packages of dried marijuana, 1,824kg in total, with a street value of about 110 million baht, Pol Lt Gen Somprasong said.
The four men in the vans – Tachakorn Puangrangsi, 39, Tawiwut Thaworanuwong, 32, Varit Poompuang, 27, and Vitavat Riangkaew, 24 – were arrested.
They allegedly confessed to being paid 50,000 baht to transport the marijuana from a border province in the Northeast to Bangkok. From Bangkok, the drug would be delivered to the South.
The four were charged with having drugs in their possession with intent to sell.
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Packages totalling 1.8 tonnes of dried marijuana seized on the Mitrapap highway in Nakhon Ratchasima on Wednesday morning, on display at Provincial Police Region 3 headquarters. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert)
