Cops bust drug suspect over 11kg stash of crystal meth

SONGKHLA: A high-profile drug trafficking suspect has been arrested with 11 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, or ya ice, with a street value of 11 million baht in Hat Yai district.

The suspect was identified as Niwat “Toon” Dokmai, alias “Nung Bin” or “Pilot”, 25, from Bangkok.

He was apprehended with the illegal drugs in a rented room on Rattana Uthit Road in Hat Yai municipality on Monday.

The raid was conducted by a drug suppression unit attached to Hat Yai police station after they received a tip-off.

According to police, Mr Niwat confessed he and two other male suspects boarded a plane to Hat Yai to pick up 15kg of crystal meth left in front of Wat Hat Yai Sutaram in tambon Kuan Lang on June 12 on the orders of another drug dealer, named only “Jae” or “Big Sister”. The other suspects are Apichart “Meng” Toommarin, 25, and Thanthorn “Dam” Yutthaphan, 23.

The woman allegedly told them to leave 4kg at the location and hide the remainder in the room and wait for her to tell them to deliver it to customers.

They were hired for 60,000 baht each, police said.

Police said Mr Niwat told them the woman earlier ordered them to pick up 60kg of ya ice worth more than 60 million baht on Sai Sanam Bin Road in the tambon and drop it off at the temple in April.

Police said an initial probe indicated Mr Niwat had been detained earlier several times for drug-related offences. His latest arrest occurred while his cases were on trial after he was bailed.

They said the suspects worked for a narcotics network, which distributed the drug to dealers in Songkhla and the deep South, while some of the drugs were also trafficked to a neighbouring country, police said.