Soldiers captured two men in the Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai and seized approximately 3 million meth pills they dumped while they were being chased.
On information that a large shipment of drugs would be moved inland from the border in Mae Ai district, army Rangers from Pha Muang Task Force were stationed on four routes often used by smugglers.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Chao Fang checkpoint soldiers signaled to a car to stop for a search. Rather than stopping at the checkpoint, the driver sped off.
The soldiers chased the car and caught it in the Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai.
Apparently, the vehicle had burst a rear tire and stopped near the Kiew Satai checkpoint in Mae Chan Chiang Rai. There were two men in the car, but soldiers found nothing inside the vehicle.
Police detained the two men at Kiew Satai checkpoint while a chase team searched along their trail. One kilometer from the checkpoint, in Pakui Moo 3 village of Mae Ai district, they discovered eight abandoned sacks.
At the same time, another team of rangers found five bags of drugs near the Myanmar border in the Mae Ai district of Chiang Rai.
Overall, the 13 sacks seized contained about 3 million meth pills – the eight sacks contained 1.82 million pills and the five sacks contained 1-1.25 million.
Local police were tasked with taking legal action against the two suspects. A continuing investigation was underway.