Border Patrol Police have arrested a 19-year-old man and seized more than 2,100,000 pills in Tambon Pa Teng, Amphoe Mae Chan, Chiang Rai Province. A second suspect escaped and police have launched a province wide manhunt.
According to the Border Patrol Police they received a tip-off that a group would be smuggling drugs from the Thai-Burmese border on the Mae Fah Luang side into the village through Tambon Pa Tueng, Amphoe Mae Chan.
In the early morning hours of Saturday police spotted a pickup truck in Doi Mae Chan, that matched the description from the tip-off, and radioed ahead to a border checkpoint to stop it for a search.
When the truck came upon the road block it smashed into a police pickup that was blocking the road and opened fire at the police officers, hitting Pol. Sgt. Maj. Natchapol in the right arm.
The truck sped further down the road until it crashed and one of the passengers fled into the darkness of the night, leaving behind a 19-year-old teenager, identified as Mr. Jamee. Upon a search of the pickup truck police uncovered 10 sacks of methamphetamine pills, totaling more than 2,100,000 pills.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Natchapol Sukpaisankul, the leader of the 327th Border Patrol Police told reporters that initial questioning of the one suspect revealed that they had been hired to transport the methamphetamine for 50,000 baht into central Thailand. The suspect also gave up the identity of the shooter and police have since launched a province wide manhunt to capture him.
Meanwhile, the police officer that was shot in the arm has been released from hospital and is recovering from his injury at home.
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Police Seize 2 Million Methamphetamine Pills in Phan Chiang Rai
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