CHIANG MAI -Police from Provincial Region 5 teamed up with local units in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Lamphun, tracking and arresting two major drug rings, seizing close to 10 million meth pills and 100 kilograms of crystal meth.
One network involved dealers from Chiang Mai, caught transporting 6 million meth pills from Wiang Kaen. The second case led to the arrest of a 24-year-old man from Damnoen Saduak, smuggling meth from northern Chiang Mai. He tried to escape through Lamphun, ignoring red lights in the city centre, but the police caught up in the end.
On 15 September, Police Lieutenant General Kritthaphon Yisakhon (Region 5 Police Commissioner), the military, local administrators, and ONCB Region 5 officials held a press conference and detailed two major arrests—authorities seized 9,730,000 methamphetamine pills and 100 kilograms of crystal meth, along with four suspects.
The first case unfolded after an investigation by Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong police, with help from Region 5 narcotics officers. Intelligence pointed to a drug convoy using a white Toyota Revo pickup with a Chiang Mai plate and several other vehicles to transport drugs into central regions. Police tracked the vehicles during their journey.
On 11 September, officers spotted the target vehicles: a white Toyota Revo and a black Toyota Vios, both from Chiang Mai. They travelled together from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong, Chiang Rai, and checked into a hotel in Wiang subdistrict. This matched intelligence that a shipment would cross the border there.
By the evening of 12 September, officers noticed Mr. Chalit, 33, from Samoeng, Chiang Mai (later identified), parking the white Revo outside Chiang Khong Hospital. He then got in the black Vios, driven by Mr. Jirayut, 47, from Mae La Noi, Mae Hong Son, and headed to a PTT petrol station in Chiang Khong.
Shortly after, Mr. Ekolak, 36, from Wiang Kaen, Chiang Rai, arrived on a motorbike. He switched to the pickup with a younger man following on another bike. The group then drove towards Wiang Kaen, which was suspected as the loading point for the drugs. Police observed the area along the Chiang Khong–Wiang Kaen route closely.
That night, officers saw the pickup return from Wiang Kaen towards Chiang Khong, with a visibly heavy blue tarpaulin covering the bed. The vehicle was parked outside Chiang Khong Hospital. Mr. Ekolak exited the driver’s side, as did a young man from the passenger side, both heading toward a convenience store across the street.
At the same time, the black Vios (also under watch) left the petrol station and parked nearby. Police moved in to search and arrest all three. The younger man, however, managed to escape in the dark.
A search of the pickup uncovered 24 sacks of meth, about 6 million pills, in the back under the blue tarpaulin. Questioning revealed the batch came from Muang Yai, Wiang Kaen, destined for contacts in Chiang Mai.
In the second case, Region 5’s Narcotics Suppression Division received tips on another drug smuggling run. A group planned to use a grey Isuzu four-door truck (unregistered at first) to transport narcotics from northern Chiang Mai (Mae Taeng, Chiang Dao) to hand off deeper inside the country.
On 13 September, around 9:15 pm, officers patrolling near the Mae Taeng–San Sai border in Chiang Mai found a suspect Isuzu with a Nakhon Ratchasima plate and a loaded flatbed covered with tarpaulin. It headed toward Chiang Mai city. Another grey Isuzu (Bangkok plate) was leading the convoy.
Police tailed the vehicles through Chiang Mai city, Saraphi, and then into Lamphun. They alerted the Mae Tha checkpoint in Lamphun. At 10 pm, about 100 metres from the checkpoint, the truck abruptly turned around and drove into the Tasob Sao subdistrict. It temporarily vanished from sight.
Officers staked out the Lamphun–Lampang road until about 3:50 am, 14 September. The suspect truck emerged from Lai Tha village in Tasob Sao, driving toward downtown Lamphun. Police gave chase as it drove through Lamphun city, Saraphi, Chiang Mai city, and headed back on the Chiang Mai–Phrao road.
The truck ran several red lights at key intersections, including Ruamchok, Nong Chom, Mae Jo, and the Sansai Hospital junction.
By 4:30 am, police managed to stop the truck in front of a minimart in Nong Han, Sansai, Chiang Mai. They arrested Mr. Danusorn, known as Sanuk, 24, from Damnoen Saduak, Ratchaburi, who was driving.
The search revealed 15 sacks in the back with about 3,730,000 meth pills and 100 kilograms of ice. Officers detained him and seized the drugs. The other Isuzu with a Bangkok plate, serving as a lookout and lead vehicle, fled toward Mae Taeng and got away. Police are still investigating that route.
From 1 October last year to 14 September this year, Region 5 Provincial Police have handled 26,858 drug cases, including 255 major investigations. They have seized over 270 million meth pills, nearly 12,000 kilograms of crystal meth, over 211 kilograms of heroin, around 1,840 kilograms of ketamine, and over 160 kilograms of opium, along with assets valued at more than 1.24 billion baht.
