CHIANG MAI - Authorities seized 530,000 methamphetamine pills and some amount of heroin abandoned by two groups of fleeing smugglers following clashes in Mae Ai district of this northern border province on Friday.
The first clash occurred along the border at Pang Saeng Khrue village in tambon Mae Ai around 3.30 pm on Friday. Rangers from the army’s Pha Muang Force and border patrol police exchanged gunfire with a group of men in the area. After the brief clash, those men fled.
Twenty-four bottles of heroin, weighing 528 grammes in total, were left abandoned, said Maj Gen Prapat Phopsuwan, commander of the Pha Muang Force, who led soldiers to inspect the clash scene on Saturday.
In the second incident, a military patrol of rangers spotted a group of drug smugglers along the border at Na Ma-eun village in tambon Mae Ai about 6pm on Friday. After the exchange of gunfire, those smugglers fled. The soldiers seized 530,000 speed pills left abandoned by the fleeing smugglers.
Packs of 530,000 speed pills, 528 grammesof heroin and other items seized from fleeing drug smugglers are displayed during a media briefing in Mae Ai district, Chiang Mai on Saturday. (Photo: Pha Muang Force)