Thai narcotic suppression officials have seized about 1.4 tonnes of Ice and 91kgs of ketamine in what is being touted as one of the country’s largest drug hauls at a rented warehouse in Pathum Thani province, on the northern edge of Bangkok, early Tuesday morning.
The seizure of the drugs was attributed to a tip-off received in March from a Good Samaritan who called the Office of Narcotics Control Board’s hotline to report suspicious activity at a warehouse in Tambon Bang Luang, Muang district of Pathum Thani.
Undercover anti-narcotics officials staked out the suspected warehouse until about 2am on Tuesday when a white Honda car with Chon Buri license plates showed up at the warehouse.
The officials emerged from their hideout to stop the car, prompting the driver and another man to flee the scene. They searched the car and found four cardboard boxes, each containing about 25kgs of Ice and two more boxes containing 91kgs of ketamine.
The officials then searched the warehouse and found another 1.3 tonnes of Ice hidden in secret compartments built into the floor of a six-wheel truck.
Anti-narcotic officials said the warehouse was used as a transit point t
o store illegal drugs before being smuggled overseas.
Pol Maj-Gen Panudet Boonruang, deputy commissioner of the Region 5 Provincial Police Bureau, said the drug haul was believed to belong to a gang already wanted by the police, adding that the gang previously used the same trick in Chiang Mai.
He added that the same gang used an ambulance to smuggle drugs, which was caught last September in the northern province of Phayao.
