Police and military officials Tuesday unearthed a stash of methamphetamines, opium, and guns buried near the Myanmar border in Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district.
Soldiers form the 1st Cavalry Company and the 327th Border Patrol Police Company found 340,000 methamphetamine pills, 3kg of crystal meth, 2kg of raw opium, and three rifles, an M16 AK47 rifle and home-made long gun. The weapons were in good condition, said Lt Gen Bancherd Changpoonthong, commander of the Pha Muang Force.
The task force was patrolling a ridge on Doi Takhep mountain near a village in tambon Therd Thai when officers spotted a hole that apparently had recently been covered in the middle of a corn field. Inside the hole was the bucket of contraband, covered with a blanket.
It is believed the drugs and weapons were brought across the border by drug smugglers in the methamphetamine-production base of Lt Col Yi Se and buried there before while transport to destinations in Thailand were being arranged, Lt Gen Bancherd said.
The drug find was the second in a week. On Aug 12, Myanmar authorities dug up $7.2 billion in drugs in eastern Shan state in the "golden triangle" area of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. The haul included blocks of heroin, raw opium and nearly two million methamphetamine pills.