Man arrested with 599kg of marijuana after truck overturns
Police on Thursday arrested a man near a police checkpoint in Phatthalung for possession of 599 kilograms of marijuana after his vehicle overturned.
The suspect, Banjong Hatthaphan, 45, a resident of Samut Songkram, refused to stop at the border checkpoint in Tambon Chamuang of Phatthalung’s Khuan Khanoon district at 9:30 am, prompting police to drive after him.
During the brief chase, a tyre on Banjong’s pickup burst, causing the vehicle to overturn, revealing drugs hidden under bags of fertiliser.
The marijuana was hidden in plastic bags in 599 bars, weighing one kilogram each.
Banjong initially managed to escape by boarding a passenger van bound for Nakhon Si Thammarat but police followed the van and arrested him in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Chulabhorn district.
The suspect said he had been hired for Bt200,000 to take the drugs from Ratchaburi’s Srimuang district to a buyer at a petrol station in Songkhla’s Rattaphum district.
