In the first case, police allege former drug convict Mongkol Kasemjit, 45, was nabbed along with 600,000 yaba pills and five kg of “ice” in Nakhon Pathom’s Khamphaeng Saen district on Tuesday. In the second, three young men aged 17-24 were arrested along with 214,000 yaba pills at a checkpoint in Nakhon Ratchasima’s Sikhiew district on the same night. Police claim the three admitted they’d had been hired to transport the drugs from Sakhon Nakhon to Central Thailand in exchange for Bt50,000 – a trip they had made twice before.

In Bangkok, Huai Kwang police announced the Tuesday arrest of four drug suspects in two separate cases. In the first, they arrested Chiang Mai man Jeumong Saelee, 38, along with 6.41 grams of heroin. A man said to be Jeumong’s Myanmar accomplice, Awei Saechao, allegedly carried 2.99g of heroin. In another case, Kamolnit Boonthanom, 38, was arrested along with 1.144g of “ice” in a sting operation. An accomplice, Angkhana Reucha-udom, 30, was detained allegedly with 9.98g of “ice”.

Down South, the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre yesterday claimed 42,000 yaba pills worth Bt8.4 million and two pistols plus ammunition were seized from suspect Maroseng Doloh, 42, after his arrest in Pattani’s Nong Chik district. Maroseng’s 15-item assets worth Bt10 million were impounded.