BANGKOK, June 9 (Xinhua) -- A Thai man allegedly smuggling 2,068 pills of methamphetamine was arrested by Mekong patrol navy officers and police in northeastern Thailand, local media reported Friday.
The arrest was carried out in Nakhon Phanom on Thursday evening when the man picked up some unknown stuffs from the bank of Mekong river and sneaked into a village nearby, police disclosed.
The man, aged 37, run away when spotted by the joint security team acting on tip-off but was finally arrested with 10 pack of 2,068 pills of methamphetamine, Bangkok Biznews reported.
The man admitted that he has successfully delivered speed pills from Laos to Thailand for three times and was paid 5,000 to 10,000 baht (142 to 284 U.S. dollars) each time, according to local reports.
Statistics from police show that drug smuggling in Nakhon Phanom has increased since 2015. 2016 saw a total of 3.5 tons of methamphetamine smuggled through the province while 2017 saw four tons of marijuana and three tons of speed pills seized.
Nakhon Phanom adjoins Laos to the east over Mekong River. The river run through Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, a region engulfed by waves of drug producing and trafficking for years.
