Police Seize 2.89 Million Meth Pills Hidden in Fruit Baskets
Thai police arrested a 52-year-old drug courier in Ayutthaya province after seizing 2.89 million methamphetamine pills hidden in fruit baskets inside his pickup truck. The suspect, from Chiang Mai, admitted he was paid 100,000 baht to transport the drugs from Chiang Rai to the Bangkok area. Authorities tracked the vehicle via license plate readers across multiple provinces before intercepting it at a gas station.
On November 12, 2026, Police Lieutenant General Phumin Phumphanmuang, Commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, and Police Major General Witas Burirak, Commander of the 3rd Narcotics Suppression Division, ordered Police Colonel Mongkol Omsap, Deputy Commander of Division 3, and his team to investigate a transnational drug trafficking network. Acting on intelligence, they learned that a 52-year-old man named Sao, from Khae Pha Mong village, Mae Chaem district, Chiang Mai province, was using a blue Toyota pickup truck (license plate Por 3456 Chiang Mai) to smuggle a large quantity of methamphetamine from Chiang Rai to Bangkok and surrounding provinces. Officers tracked the vehicle via the Automatic License Plate Recognition (LPR) system as it passed through a checkpoint in Kamphaeng Phet province, heading toward the Asian Highway through Sing Buri province. A surveillance team followed closely until 8:40 p.m. on November 10, 2026, when the pickup turned into a PTT gas station on the Asia-Ban Krad route in Bang Pa-in district, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province. Investigators immediately moved in to search the vehicle and found plastic baskets stacked with fruit in the truck bed, apparently meant to disguise the contraband. A thorough search revealed a massive haul of 2,896,000 methamphetamine pills hidden inside. During questioning, the suspect confessed he had picked up the drugs in Chiang Rai for delivery to his employer's clients in the Bangkok metropolitan area. He was instructed to park the vehicle at a designated spot near the destination. He was to be paid 100,000 baht for the job and had already received 20,000 baht in advance. The suspect and the evidence were handed over to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau to expand the investigation and prosecute the case further.
