Thai police have dismantled a major drug trafficking operation, seizing 1.6 tonnes of ketamine and crystal methamphetamine concealed beneath sacks of cabbage on a pickup truck.
A 39-year-old Thai man was arrested when he stopped at a petrol station in central Ayutthaya province over the weekend, police said.
Authorities recovered 900 kilogrammes of ketamine and 700 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine from packages hidden under the vegetable sacks, according to Bangkok police.
The driver, arrested on April 4, admitted he had been hired to transport the drugs for 100,000 Thai baht, equivalent to 3,000 US dollars, police said.
Drug trafficking charges in Thailand carry a maximum sentence ranging from 15 years to life imprisonment.
Thailand remains a key hub for illegal drug trafficking in Southeast Asia, where seizures of narcotics such as heroin and methamphetamine occur frequently.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that a record 236 tonnes of methamphetamine were seized across East and Southeast Asia in 2024, marking a 24 per cent increase from the previous year.
