CHIANG RAI – Police and soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Froce in northern Thailand seized 8 million meth pills in one day during two seizures in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Officers acted on tip-offs from locals and made arrests at both sites.
On 24 June, officers from the Pha Muang Task Force received a tip-off about a plan to move a large shipment of drugs from the border area into the country using Phahonyothin Road. Acting quickly, the team set up patrols along the expected route.
Soon after, they spotted a grey Toyota pickup with Chiang Rai plates driving through Mae Chan district. Before the vehicle reached the checkpoint at Kiow Thap Yang, officers followed it along Route 1209.
The pursuit led them to Huai Om Mai village in Mae Khao Tom, where they saw the pickup turn off the main road into a small patch of woodland. Another pickup was already waiting under a cluster of bamboo.
Both vehicles backed up toward each other, and three men began moving large sacks from one truck to the other.
As soldiers moved in to surround the area, the group abandoned their vehicles and fled in different directions. Officers managed to detain one of the suspects on the spot.
Upon searching the trucks, soldiers found chicken manure sacks covering 13 large bags filled with meth pills. Six of the sacks each contained 150,000 pills, and seven held 300,000 pills each. In total, officers seized 3 million pills.
The drugs and suspects are now in custody as authorities continue their investigation, working with other local units to track down those involved.
Chiang Mai Police Seize 5 million meth pills
Meanwhile, police from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau and Mae Taeng station worked together to stop a drug transport operation in broad daylight. Officers chased and caught a man from Wiang Haeng riding a motorcycle, who was leading a pickup truck driven by a Myanmar national.
The pickup, with no cover over its cargo, was loaded with about 20 sacks containing at least 5 million methamphetamine pills.
On 24 June, officers from the narcotics police and Mae Taeng police station set up a checkpoint in Chiang Mai. They stopped a black Toyota pickup registered in Lamphun and a black-red Honda motorcycle registered in Chiang Mai.
Two men were arrested: a 38-year-old from Wiang Haeng, Chiang Mai, and a 30-year-old from Myanmar. Both vehicles were seized along with a large quantity of drugs.
Police had received a tip that a trafficking group would use a motorcycle to lead a pickup truck carrying drugs from the Thai-Myanmar border in Wiang Haeng, passing through Sop Poeng in Mae Taeng. Officers tracked the vehicles until they reached the front of Ban Pang Muang Health Centre in Sop Poeng.
There, police stopped both vehicles. The Thai man rode the motorcycle ahead, while the Myanmar man drove the pickup. Officers searched the truck and found 15 to 20 sacks in the back, with no attempt to hide them. Inside were about 5 million meth pills.
Police detained both men. During questioning, they admitted they were moving the drugs from Wiang Haeng using back roads, planning to deliver them to a contact in Inthakhin, Mae Taeng. Officers stopped them before they completed the drop.
Both suspects and all the drugs are now with investigators, who will continue their enquiries and take legal action.
These operations reflect Thailand’s broader anti-drug policy under Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who has prioritised combating drug trafficking as a national security issue. The government aims for 10 pilot provinces, including Chiang Mai, to achieve a 90% drug-free status by Songkran 2025.
Efforts focus on sealing borders, particularly with Myanmar, where political unrest has fueled a surge in methamphetamine and heroin production. The crackdown targets trafficking routes through mountains and the Mekong River, with collaboration from agencies like the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) and international partners via INTERPOL.
Seizures in northern provinces like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son have spiked, with 346 million meth pills and 6.48 tons of crystal meth confiscated in the first eight and a half months of 2025, a 172% and 39% increase, respectively, compared to 2023. Heroin seizures also rose significantly, with 327 kg seized, nearly seven times the 2023 amount.
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