MAE HONG SON - About 7.5 million speed pills were abandoned by fleeing smugglers following an exchange of gunfire with a military-led patrol team in a border area of Mae Fah Luang district in this northern province late Friday night.
A patrol from the Pha Muang task force and territorial defence volunteers spotted more than 10 men, some of them armed, carrying modified rucksacks and walking near Pasangsung village Moo 16 in tambon Therdthai, said Maj Gen Kidakorn Chanthra, the task force commander.
The soldiers signalled them to stop for a search, but the armed men opened fire to provide cover for their escape. The military patrol returned fire.
After the gunfire subsided five minutes later, the men fled. No officers were hurt.
Soldiers and defence volunteers who gave chase found a pickup truck parked about 3 kilometres away from the clash scene. There was no driver.
The officers surrounded the area and kept watch overnight. They later searched the area and found two rucksacks left along the escape route, and 25 more rucksacks inside the pickup truck. Each rucksack contained 280,000 speed pills or 7.56 million speed pills in total.
The seized drugs were handed over to the Mae Fah Luang police station.
Maj Gen Kidakorn said more than 100 million speed pills have been smuggled into northern border areas of Thailand since Oct 1 last year.
Thai authorities have noted an upturn in drug production and smuggling from border areas in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup, as militia groups seek more money to finance their activities.
The Office of the Narcotics Control Board has said that organised crime networks have allied with militias and rebel groups to set up “super labs” in Shan and Kachin states.
Sacks containing more than 7.5 million speed pills are displayed during a press conference on Saturday in Mae Hong Son. (Photo supplied/Panumet Tanraksa)