In the early hours of Wednesday, officers from the Mae Fah Luang Police Station in Chiang Rai Province, alongside Pha Muang Task Force soldiers, seized 456 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine during an operation on Wednesday morning.
The incident began when police received reports from villagers in Ban Sam Yaek A-Kho, Village 24, Mae Salong Nai Subdistrict, Mae Fah Luang District of Chiang Rai. A white Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck with a Bangkok license plate had collided with a resident’s vehicle and fled the scene. Authorities contacted soldiers from the Pha Daen Battalion to assist in investigating the matter.
Having caused the accident, the pickup truck fled toward Mae Salong Nok Subdistrict. Chiang Rai Police and soldiers pursued the vehicle, eventually finding it abandoned near Ban Lao Sip, Village 3, Mae Salong Nok Subdistrict. The truck’s front right wheel was damaged, rendering it undriveable.
Upon inspection, officers discovered 22 large sacks inside the truck. These included 20 sacks weighing 21 kilograms each, one weighing 20 kilograms, and another weighing 16 kilograms. The sacks, containing crystal methamphetamine, were seized for further processing. Authorities launched a search effort to locate those responsible.
On the night of January 13, soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force clashed with a drug trafficking group near the Thai-Myanmar border in Pang Mahan village, Village 8, Thoet Thai Subdistrict, Mae Fah Luang District. The confrontation left four smugglers dead and led to the confiscation of over 1,155 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.
From October 1, 2024, to December 12, 2024, soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force seized 25,409,112 methamphetamine pills, 140 kilograms of heroin, and 914 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. Including the latest seizures, the total now exceeds 2,500 kilograms of narcotics, along with 0.1 kilograms of opium and 232 kilograms of ketamine.
