The investigation team of Police Region 4 intercepted a pickup truck with a loud exhaust smuggling 238 kilograms of ice worth over 300 million baht, arresting a 29-year-old driver hired by a Lao friend to deliver the seized drugs to Ayutthaya province.
On 8 May 2026 at 16:00, Pol. Maj. Gen. Noppakao Somanat, Deputy Commander of Police Region 4, disclosed the arrest of Mr. Ekkarat or Palm Luetara, 29, from Pak Priao Subdistrict, Mueang Saraburi District, Saraburi Province, along with 238 kilograms of ice, a blue iPhone 13, and a black ISUZU D-MAX pickup truck, license plate KAW 9026 Nakhon Pathom 1. This followed ongoing strict enforcement by Police Region 4 against drug-related suspects along the Mekong River border provinces including Loei, Nong Khai, Bueng Kan, and Nakhon Phanom.
The arrest followed a tip-off to Investigation Unit 1, Police Region 4, from a citizen about a drug trafficking operation using a black ISUZU D-MAX pickup truck with a loud exhaust, without known license plate, smuggling ice to inner northeastern provinces along the Nong Khai–Bueng Kan route. The investigation team reported this to their superiors.
Orders were given to Pol. Col. Channarong Makphisut, Deputy Commander of Investigation Police Region 4, and Pol. Col. Somphop Kongsombat, Chief of Investigation Unit 1, Police Region 4, to lead a team to investigate and arrest those smuggling drugs. At 01:30, the team monitored vehicles traveling on the road into a rubber plantation behind Kosie Village, Khaisie Subdistrict, Mueang Bueng Kan District, Bueng Kan Province.
They spotted the suspect pickup truck entering the rubber plantation area. The team intercepted the vehicle, causing the front right tire to burst and the truck to stop. The driver and passenger fled into the forest, but the police managed to arrest the driver, identified as Mr. Ekkarat or Palm Luetara, 29, and seized the vehicle.
Upon inspection, five fertilizer sacks wrapped in black plastic were found hidden inside the rear seat area, with another three sacks in the truck bed. Examination revealed 238 bags of ice weighing approximately 238 kilograms, valued at over 300 million baht.
The Deputy Commander added that during interrogation, the suspect confessed that a Lao friend had hired him to transport this batch of ice to Ayutthaya province, promising a payment of 50,000 baht upon successful delivery. He had invited a friend to accompany him, but they were intercepted before leaving Bueng Kan province.
Regarding the vehicle used to transport the ice, investigations are ongoing to determine if the owner is involved in the smuggling. Police Region 4 has ordered their investigation team to gather evidence, expand the inquiry, and pursue the trafficking network responsible for this case to bring them to justice. The vehicle used in the smuggling has been seized as evidence.The seized assets are being confiscated as property linked to drug trafficking.
The arrest team then handed the suspect and the seized items over to the Ho Kham Police Station for prosecution on charges of possession with intent to distribute Category 1 narcotics methamphetamine (ice) illegally, an act constituting trafficking that spreads among the public and threatens state security and public safety; driving under the influence of Category 1 methamphetamine; and illegal methamphetamine use.