Soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force, together with the Narcotics Suppression Police, seized more than 1,600,000 methamphetamine pills from a drug caravan at the Thai-Myanmar border in Chiang Rai.
Maj. Gen. Prawat Phopsuwan, Commander of the Pha Muang Task Force, told a press briefing that soldiers from the Chao Tak Task Force, police from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau lay in wait on Doi Pha Mi, Mae Sai border and intercepted a drug caravan carrying backpacks into Thailand in the middle of the night.
They arrested 6 members of the drug smuggling gang and seized 1.6 million meth pills (Yaba). However, some of the smugglers escaped across the border.
Maj. Gen. Prawat said the drug seizure was made after intelligence officers received information that there would be a caravan smuggling drugs through the Thai-Myanmar border in the mountainous area in Ban Pha Mi, Village 6, Wiang Pang Kham Sub-district, Mae Sai District. Therefore, they led their forces to wait in the forest near the border.
In the middle of the night, the task force spotted about 10-12 men carrying sacks modified into backpacks, sneaking through the forest into Thailand and heading straight for the entrance to the garbage dump.
The task force revealed themselves, causing the caravan to abandon their belongings and flee. The task force chased and arrested 6 of them while the rest escaped. The escapees abandoned 11 sacks scattered around the area, containing about 1,600,000 methamphetamine pills.
Maj. Gen. Prawat said the six smugglers would be handed over to the Mae Sai police station, where they would be charged with drug smuggling and entering the Kingdom illegally. They now face up to 10 years in prison.
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