Police raid on actress's house nets B1bn drugs haul
Police seized a large haul of speed pills and crystal methamphetamine, or ya ice, worth more than one billion baht during a raid on a house in Pathum Thani's Thanyaburi district.
Police obtained a search warrant from the Thanyaburi court and yesterday raided a two-storey house at the Sammakorn housing estate on Rangsit-Nakhon Nayok Road as part of an investigation that began on Friday into the alleged use of a fake vehicle licence plate.
The house belongs to actress Jarinya Hannarong but she rents it out to tenants.
Jarinya said she had nothing to do with the case and complained that the disclosure of her name could damage her reputation.
Police found 3,864,000 methamphetamine pills and 71kg of crystal methamphetamine hidden in a small room under a staircase, said Pol Maj Gen Kamronwit Thoopkrachang, acting chief of Provincial Police Region 1.
No one was at home when police arrived. The drugs have an estimated street value of over one billion baht.
Pol Maj Gen Kamronwit said the case began after a man, whose name was not disclosed, spotted a white Toyota Camry car bearing the same licence plate number as his car and alerted highway police to intercept it.
The man also said he had previously received a speeding ticket mailed to him from Lampang police despite the fact he had never been to the northern province. This prompted him to suspect misuse of his licence plate number.
The complainant, who also owns a white Toyota Camry, gave chase to the suspicious car, which was later found in a roadside ditch near a bus terminal in Khlong Luang district.
Police said the driver, identified as Nipon Kanchart, managed to escape after fleeing police at high speed and going off the road. Police said they found 10g of ice in his car.
Further investigation led police to search a condominium unit belonging to Jeerarat Intharat, 25, Mr Nipon's girlfriend, in Bangkok's Huai Khwang district.
Officers discovered 42g of ice in the room. They also found documents related to the renting of a house in the Sammakorn housing estate, leading to the subsequent police raid and discovery of the huge drug haul.
Meanwhile, in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district, two drug smugglers were shot dead in a clash with paramilitary rangers of the Third Army's Pha Muang Task Force on Friday night.
The gunfight took place on a mountain range near Ban Huay San, about 500m from the Thailand-Myanmar border.
The rangers were patrolling the area when they met a group of six people walking from Muang Yon in Myanmar, opposite Mae Ai district.
After the gunfight, which lasted about 30 minutes, the rangers cleared the area and found the dead bodies of two drug ring members, one rifle, three bags containing 100,000 methamphetamine pills, more than 10kg of ice and heroin.
Col Pairote Yawincharn , a patrol unit leader, believed the armed group of smugglers belonged to the Red Wa in Myanmar's Shan state.
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Originally Posted by CiaranM
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