Wang Saphung: A 24-year-old man has been arrested for concealing 130,000 methamphetamine pills in a rice barn. The suspect confessed in a subdued voice, admitting to being a courier hired to transport drugs and revealed he had engaged in this activity twice.
According to Thai News Agency, Wang Saphung Police Station, in collaboration with detectives, local government officials, and the Wang Saphung District Chief, Loei Province, executed a court warrant from Loei Province to search a residence in Village 4, Tambon Pha Bing, Amphoe Wang Saphung, Loei Province. This action followed intelligence that a significant quantity of methamphetamine pills was being stored there. Upon arrival, officers encountered Mr. Naphathip, 24, inside the residence. After presenting the court warrant, they conducted a search and discovered 66 bundles of methamphetamine pills, amounting to 132,000 pills, hidden in a barn behind the house and beneath a tree. Additionally, a bedroom search yielded documents, a list of customers involved in methamphetamine transactions, 14,810 baht in cash, and a Honda motorcycle, all of which were confiscated as evidence.
Pol. Col. Noppadol Plianrup, Superintendent of Wang Saphung Police Station, disclosed that the investigation team had been monitoring Mr. Naphathip’s activities as a drug courier, known in the trade as a pilot, hired to receive methamphetamine pills and distribute them to minor dealers in Wang Saphung District. Consequently, they sought and obtained a search warrant for his residence from the Loei Province court. The search resulted in the discovery of the substantial quantity of methamphetamine pills concealed in the rice barn and under the trees.
The suspect admitted to being employed as a pilot to collect methamphetamine from a drug dealer in the neighboring country of Laos. The dealer would deliver the drugs to a predetermined location, where Mr. Naphathip would retrieve them and distribute them to small-time dealers and users, receiving 20,000 baht per transaction. He confessed to completing this task twice. Subsequently, he was taken, along with the evidence, to the Wang Saphung Police Station for legal proceedings.