Rescue workers accidentally stumbled on a substantial haul of methamphetamine, or “yaa baa” pills as they arrived at the scene of a road accident, on a provincial highway in Po Pratabchang district of Thailand’s northern province of Phichit, on Wednesday.

They immediately alerted the police when they found one of the injured, later identified as Sgt Major Nawin Pandum, a soldier attached to the third infantry battalion based in Chiang Rai province, trying to remove two burlap bags from an overturned pickup truck, apparently in an attempt to conceal them in roadside bushes.

Police at the scene found 500,000 methamphetamine tablets in the bags.

Nawin later allegedly admitted to the police that he was hired by a drug trafficker to deliver one million yaa baa pills to two customers in the central region.

Half of the drugs had already been delivered to a customer in Phichit on Tuesday night and the other half was supposed to be delivered yesterday to another customer, but his pickup truck crashed into a roadside power pole, injuring him, his wife and 5-year old son.

Nawin said his wife and son sat in the front seat with him and he wore his army uniform, to discourage police manning road checkpoints from searching his vehicle.

He was held in police custody for further questioning.