CHIANG RAI – Border Patrol Police in Mae Chan, Chiang Rai, seized a large haul of suspected drugs after a late-night pursuit of a white Suzuki Swift believed to be transporting narcotics from the border into Thailand’s interior.
On Thursday, officers confirmed they had recovered methamphetamine tablets (yaba), estimated at around 800,000 pills, along with 20 bags of ketamine weighing about 20 kilograms in total. The drugs were found after the suspects abandoned the vehicle and ran.
The operation followed intelligence received by senior Border Patrol Police commanders that a car registered in Nan province could be moving drugs through Chiang Rai. Officers were assigned to track the vehicle and set out to locate the white Suzuki.
Police later spotted the car travelling on the bypass route near Mae Khao Tom junction in Mueang Chiang Rai, heading towards Phahonyothin Road at Ban Den junction in Nang Lae, before continuing south in the direction of Ban Du market.
When officers closed in, the driver accelerated and tried to escape. Near the junction in front of a well-known university, the car turned back north, then cut left into a side street near the Rajabhat campus area (Village 9, Rajabhat Gate 2). Officers followed, and the chase ended near Rajabhat Gate 4, where the road becomes a dead-end.
Two people who were inside the car reportedly left it in the lane and fled on foot, using the darkness and local knowledge to get away.
A search of the abandoned vehicle found four large sacks wrapped in black plastic. Inside, officers discovered the suspected yaba and ketamine. The items were seized as evidence, and police said they would continue investigations to identify and arrest those involved.
