Two big drug hauls in North

Police yesterday seized 1 million yaba tablets with a street value of over Bt200 million and arrested a Hmong man in Chiang Rai's Mae Saruay district on suspicion of trafficking the drugs.

Following a tip-off about an attempted drug delivery, police manning a Mae Saruay checkpoint arrested Jeah Saetao, 43, a resident of Chiang Mai's Phrao district, after his pickup was stopped to be searched. However, Jeah tried to flee, leading to a brief car chase. After police found yaba in the pickup truck, Jeah confessed to having been hired for Bt300,000 to deliver the illicit drug to Chiang Mai's Mae Rim district.

Meanwhile, police arrested two ethnic Lisu men, Sitthidet Siwalee, 28, and Sitthikorn Saeli, 30, with 394,000 yaba tablets and 5kg of crystal meth worth Bt120 million in Lampang's Sop Prap district on Friday night.