CHIANG RAI – Border patrol police report a black Mitsubishi Pajero, a 7-seat SUV with Bangkok plates, was spotted speeding along a border road late at night. When it neared a mobile checkpoint, the driver tried to turn around fast, lost control, and ranoff the roadside.
The driver and any passengers jumped out and disappeared into the dark. A search of the SUV and the nearby area later turned up a major haul of meth pills (yaba), more than 5.3 million tablets in total, along with an ID card linked to a man from Sikhio District.
According to the border patrol police, at about 1:00 a.m. on February 9, officers noticed the suspicious Mitsubishi Pajero driving along the road. When it came within about 500 meters of the checkpoint, the driver suddenly swerved to make a U-turn.
The move went wrong, and the SUV slid off the road onto the shoulder in front of the base and could not get back onto the roadway. The occupants quickly opened the doors and fled.
Troops moved in to inspect the vehicle. Inside, they found the cabin packed with feed sacks wrapped in black plastic. There were 24 sacks in total. When opened, officers found Category 1 narcotics (yaba).
Twenty-three sacks held about 200,000 pills each, and one sack held about 120,000 pills. The total inside the SUV was estimated at 4,720,000 meth pills.
Border patrol officers also found personal documents inside the vehicle, including a Thai national ID card belonging to a 29-year-old man from Sikhio District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province.
Later that morning, at around 8:00 a.m., a patrol team from Cavalry Company 3 (M2), Task Force Thap Chao Tak under the Phamuang Force, went out to monitor the same area around Ban Muang Daeng Tai, Village 1, Mae Sai Subdistrict.
During the patrol, troops found two suspicious suitcases hidden in tall grass and covered with dry vegetation.
A search showed both suitcases contained meth pills (yaba). The pink suitcase held an estimated 260,000 pills, and the white suitcase held an estimated 360,000 pills, for a combined total of about 620,000 pills.
Authorities seized all evidence and handed it over to investigators at Mae Sai Police Station to continue legal proceedings. Combined with the pills found in the SUV, the total seizure was reported at more than 5.3 million tablets.
