Soldiers arrested two fleeing men in Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai and later seized about 3 million methamphetamine pills dumped while they were being chased through nearby Mae Ai border district of Chiang Mai early Friday morning.
Rangers from the army's Pha Muang Task Force were stationed on four routes often used by smugglers, acting on information that a large shipment of drugs would be moved inland from the border in Mae Ai district.
About 12.45am on Friday, soldiers at the Chao Fang checkpoint signalled a car to stop for a search. Instead, the driver sped off through the checkpoint. The soldiers gave chase and caught up with the car in tambon Pa Tueng in Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai. It had a burst tyre and had stopped near Kiew Satai checkpoint. Two men were found in the car, but nothing illegal.
Police manning the Kiew Satai checkpoint detained the two men while the chase team searched back along the pursuit route. They found eight sacks abandoned beside the road in Pakui Moo 3 village in Mae Ai district, about one kilometre from the checkpoint.
About the same time a different team of rangers found another five bags of drugs near the Myanmar border in Mae Ai district.
The 13 sacks seized contained about 3 million meth pills in total – the eight sacks containing 1.82 million pills and the five sacks 1-1.25 million.
The two suspects were handed over to local police for legal action. The investigation was continuing.