CHIANG RAI - Authorities seized more than 3 million speed pills abandoned by fleeing smugglers after an exchange of gunfire along a road near a forested area in Muang district of this northern province on Thursday morning.
Border patrol police and soldiers from the Thap Chao Tak special unit of the Pha Muang task force spotted three suspected pickup trucks travelling along the Den Ha-Dong Mada road in tambon Mae Korn at about 6am on Thursday.
The officers signalled the drivers to stop, but those inside the vehicles opened fire. An exchange of gunfire then erupted.After a clash that lasted about 10 minutes, the armed men abandoned the three pickups and fled into a nearby forest, said Gen Narit Thawornwong, commander of a drug suppression unit.
A search found 16 fertiliser sacks inside one of the three vehicles. Each sack contained 200,000 speed pills, for a total of 3.2 million, said Gen Narit.
Soldiers inspect pickup trucks abandoned by fleeing smugglers. (Photo supplied/Panumet Tanraksa)