‘Pregnant’ hilltribe women allegedly found to be carrying opium

Acting on a tip-off, officers from the northern city’s Mae Ai district police station, led by deputy superintendent Pol Lt-Colonel Nanthasak Katkasem, intercepted a pickup truck coming out of an alley next to a local school.

Inside the vehicle were 13 hilltribe women who police said acted suspiciously. They appeared to be pregnant with protruding bellies.

However, body searches conducted by a female police officer found packs of raw opium hidden in their underwear, police said.

Each of the 13 women held an opium pack weighing 1.64 kilograms. The 13 packs totalled 21.32 kilograms.

The women and the driver were charged with possessing the second type of narcotic (opium) with the intent to sell. Police said the suspects had confessed that they had obtained the opium from a hilltribe community in Tha Ton sub-district.