Two men arrested with 1 ton of marijuana

BANGKOK, Feb 22 (TNA) -- Highway police arrested two men and seized from them one ton of marijuana at a checkpoint in Palian district of Trang province. Pol Col Pakin Na Ranong, a local highway superintendent, said Tosaniyom Trisuwan, 30, and Adirek Petkong, 30, were arrested with 1,090 kilograms of compressed marijuana hidden in 25 sacks on their pickup truck. Before the arrest, highway police were informed that narcotics would be transported from a neighbouring country through the Northeast and the South to another neighbouring country. The suspects’ pickup truck was blocked at the public service center of highway police in Palian district as the vehicle matched a tip from an informant and the men appeared suspicious. Both suspects admitted that they were hired 100,000 baht to pick up the marijuana in Bueng Kan province and accomplices kept phoning them to recommend routes to avoid checkpoints but to no avail. The suspects had criminal records of robbery and theft and police were hunting for their accomplices. (TNA)