CHIANG MAI: More than a million methamphetamine pills were seized following a brief clash between security forces and a drug caravan in a forest area in Chiang Dao district early on Tuesday.
A patrol comprising soldiers and police spotted about 10 men, each carrying a rucksack, travelling on foot in a forest area near Kaeng Pantao checkpoint in tambon Mae Na of Chiang Dao district around 5am.
When signalled to stop for a search they instead opened fire on the security patrol, Thai media reported.
After a brief exchange of shots, the men melted away into the forest, abandoning their rucksacks as they fled. When opened, the backpacks were found to contain 1.1 million speed pills in total.
Maj Gen Bannawat Prommachan, commander of the narcotics prevention and suppression operation centre in the North, said the team was deployed to the area in response to information a shipment of drugs would smuggled through there from a factory in a neighbouring country.