Police intercept 300kg crystal meth shipment disguised as tamarind paste

Police have seized about 300kg of crystal methamphetamine and arrested four men suspected of belonging to a drug trafficking gang that concealed the illegal narcotics in jars of tamarind paste in Pathumwan district yesterday.

The seizure was made by narcotics suppression officers during a raid on a transport company. The drugs were found packed in eight cardboard boxes on a pick-up truck. A scout car was also seized.

Pol Gen Samran Nualma, deputy national police chief, told the media that the seizure was the result of an expanded investigation following the discovery of crystal methamphetamine hidden in jars of tamarind paste destined for Japan in mid-July.

Six Vietnamese nationals were subsequently arrested at a house in Bangkok's Bang Kapi district for their alleged involvement in the Japan-bound drug trafficking operation.

Undercover narcotics officers tailed the pick-up truck and its scout car after they left a delivery company in the northeastern province of Sakhon Nakhon bound for Bangkok.

Upon arriving at the parcel service's office in the capital, where the packages were to be collected by the four suspects, plainclothes officers moved in and made the arrests.