CHIANG MAI: Soldiers seized about 1.6 million methamphetamine pills abandoned by fleeing smugglers and arrested one suspect during a chase in Fang district on Monday night.
Soldiers from the Chaiyanuparb special unit were sent to a border area in Fang on information that 5-6 suspected drug smugglers were entering there from Myanmar.
One patrol spotted a group of men carrying rucksacks through a lychee plantation at Pha Kha village. A pickup truck and a motorcyclist were waiting for them.
The soldiers called on them to stop for a search, but the men instead fled on the vehicles. The patrol alerted nearby road checkpoints.
The fleeing men sped through one checkpoint, undeterred by gunshots fired at them as they fled. The soldiers chased them into the grounds of Wat Huai Chanu, where the suspects abandoned their vehicles and ran away.
One man was caught and 16 rucksacks containing about 1.6 million meth pills were seized, arresting officers said. The pickup truck, registered in Chiang Rai, and the motorcycle were seized.
Authorities said the drugs had an estimated street value of 240 million baht.
Senior military commanders and police display packs of 1.6 million speed pills abandoned by fleeing smugglers in Chiang Mai's Fang district during a media briefing on Tuesday. (Photo: Panumet Tanraksa)