550kg-ganja-seized-two-arrested

NAKHON PHANOM: Police intercepted a van in That Phanom district, seized 550 kilogrammes of compressed marijuana and arrested the two couriers late on Sunday night.

Pol Maj Gen Thanachart Rodklongtan, the provincial police chief, said the van, a Hyundai VIP, was intercepted on a road along the Mekong river near Don Nang Hong village following a tip-off from informants.

Police searched the vehicle and found 550 slabs of dried marijuana, weighing about 550 kilogrammes in total.

The two men in the van – Viriya Sriapinyayothin, 34, from Nakhon Ratchasima’s Muang district, and Sarayut Sukrerk, 18, from Chachoengsao’s Plaeng Yai district – were arrested.

They said they were hired in Nakhon Ratchasima and were being paid 100,000 baht to deliver the marijuana from Nakhon Phanom to Bangkok. They had rented the van.