Lao onion, garlic smuggled across Mekong River, seized at Thai border market

　　Red onion and garlic allegedly smuggled across Mekong River from Laos were seized at a Thai border market on Monday, police said.

　　A haul of 1.7 tons of red onion and 1.4 tons of garlic were seized from a couple of pickup trucks at the border market in That Phanom district of Nakhon Phanom province, about 737 km northeast of Bangkok, said police superintendent Pol. Col. Chularit Chulaka.

　　The red onion and garlic, worth about 100,000 baht (about 3,000 U.S. dollars), had been smuggled by boat on the international river from the Lao side of the border and unloaded onto the pickup trucks on the Thai side, Pol. Col. Chularit said.

　　The two truck drivers, both local Thai villagers, were arrested on charges of smuggling the Lao farm goods.

　　The red onion and garlic smuggled from Laos would have been currently sold in Thai markets for a range of 45 baht (about 1.36 U.S. dollars) to 55 baht (about 1.66 U.S. dollars) per kg in Thai markets, compared to only 15 baht (about 0.45 U.S. dollar) to 20 baht (about 0.60 U.S. dollar) per kg in Lao markets.