CHIANG RAI – In the early hours, police, soldiers and local officials acted quickly to stop a drug delivery near the Wiang Kaen border. A pickup truck with Chiang Mai plates was caught carrying a large haul of meth pills along the edge of the border.
When the truck reached a checkpoint, the driver tried to escape, swerving off the road and into a ditch. The suspects jumped out and ran away into the dark. Inside the truck, officers discovered 20 large sacks packed with meth pills, estimated at over four million tablets.
Documents left in the vehicle showed the truck belonged to a 28-year-old man from Mae Ai.
On July 18, Pol. Maj. Gen. Manop Senakul from Chiang Rai Police teamed up with Supoj Lankaweranan, the Wiang Kaen district chief, and Pol. Col. Supakorn Promcharoen, the local police chief, to continue the drug crackdown under the “Seal Stop Safe” policy in Wiang Kaen.
Police, district security staff, territorial defence volunteers and paramilitary troops set up a checkpoint on the Thai-Lao border highway near Ban Chedi Thong, Village 21, Por subdistrict, Wiang Kaen.
At about 2 am, officers saw a Nissan four-door pickup with Chiang Mai plates driving along the border road toward the checkpoint. About 100 metres before the stop, the vehicle pulled over to the side.
Sensing something was off, officers moved in and alerted other units nearby. Suddenly, the driver sped away, heading into the brush before the occupants jumped out and vanished into the darkness.
The team split up, some chasing after those who ran while others checked the truck. They found its bed packed with 20 colourful feed sacks, each holding about 200,000 meth pills. The total haul reached an estimated four million meth pills.
Officers also found paperwork naming Chaiwat, a 28-year-old from Mae Ai, as the registered owner. All evidence was taken back to the Wiang Kaen Police Station for further investigation.
