TWO Malaysian men have been arrested as Thai police expand investigations into the discovery of 700kg of “ice” (crystal methamphetamine) in a lorry transporting pineapples and watermelons in Chumphon, southern Thailand, yesterday.

Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) chief Lt Gen Sommai Kongvisaisuk said the two Malaysian men, aged 49 and 34, alleged to be members of a transnational drug syndicate, were picked up at a house in the southern border town of Hatyai about 6.30pm yesterday.

“The two Malaysian men were arrested as they unloaded the drugs from the lorry to a house in Hatyai,” he said in Bangkok today, adding that the police also arrested a 45-year-old Thai man they suspected to be the syndicate’s local accomplice.

He said the Malaysians travelled to Hatyai to pick up the drugs before trying to smuggle them across the border into Malaysia.

Efforts to track down other members of the transnational drug syndicate began after the authorities stopped the lorry at a security checkpoint in Chumphon at about 1.30am and discovered the drugs hidden among the fruits.

Instead of confiscating and taking away the drugs, the authorities, according to Sommai, allowed the driver of the drugs-laden lorry to continue his journey to Hatyai as scheduled, with undercover policemen trailing behind at a safe distance.

“They (the police) decided to let the driver continue his journey to his intended destination (Hatyai), as they wanted to nab other members of the syndicate,” he said.

As the lorry arrived in Hatyai to unload its illegal cargo, the undercover policemen waited before arresting the Malaysians and their Thai accomplices.  

The police apprehended the two Malaysian men as they were busily unloading the drugs into the house, said the NSB chief, adding that the seizure was among the agency’s biggest successes this year.

Sommai said the syndicate planned to smuggle the drugs to Malaysia through Sadao.

“We have contacted our Malaysian counterpart,” he said.

Sommai said the Thai man, whom the authorities believe was the syndicate’s local link, tried to escape in his pick-up truck when the police moved in, but failed.

The authorities also seized several Thai-registered vehicles used by the men, he said. – Bernama, March 29, 2018.