CHIANG RAI: Six drug smugglers were killed and 1.8 million methamphetamine pills seized in a clash between traffickers and an army border patrol unit in Mae Fa Luang district yesterday.
Col Sutkhet Srinilthin, commander of the 3rd Cavalry Company of Pha Muang Force, said the shoot-out occurred at about 4am when the patrol encountered 10-15 men at a border crossing near Ban Li Sae, opposite Myanmar's Tachileik province.
The men opened fire as they retreated and the soldiers fired back. After a clash lasting about 30 minutes, the soldiers found six smugglers dead and nine straw bags, each containing about 200,000 methamphetamine pills.