Army rangers seize 2m speed pills after shootout near Myanmar border in Chiang Mai
PUBLISHED : 21 Dec 2023 at 14:52
Two suspected drug smugglers were killed and at least 2 million speed pills seized following an exchange of gunfire with army rangers along the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Ai district of Chiang Mai early Thursday.
A patrol from the Pha Muang task force spotted a group of about 20 men, carrying modified rucksacks through a forested area in tambon Malika of Mae Ai at about 4.50am. As the men were acting suspiciously, the soldiers asked them to stop for a search but the latter responded with gunfire.
The rangers returned fire and the exchange continued for about 20 minutes before the gunfire stopped. The soldiers were unhurt and they sealed off the area.
At dawn, more troops arrived and they began searching the scene of the clash and surrounding areas. They found the bodies of two men: one at the clash scene and the other about a kilometre away in a corn plantation.
Thirteen rucksacks, each containing between 100,000 and 200,000 speed pills, were found scattered across the area.
Soldiers continued to search the area for more drugs that might have been abandoned by the fleeing smugglers.
The shootout was the second in less than a week in the North. On Sunday, 15 drug smugglers were killed during a clash with soldiers from the Pha Muang task force in Mae Fa Luang district in Chiang Rai. About 2 million speed pills were seized.