CHIANG RAI – Soldiers and NSB Police seized a huge stash of methamphetamine tablets after a raid in rice fields near the Mae Sai border. Soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force led the operation after getting reports of people gathering in the area to use drugs.
The search focused on farmland in Village 4, Huai Khrai Subdistrict, Mae Sai District. The area is a wide rice field, with one section turned into small vegetable plots.
When the team arrived, they found three men near the farm plots. Authorities later identified them as Ayi, 55, Kampae, 35, both from Mae Chan District, Chiang Rai, and Ahi, 60, from Huai Chomphu Subdistrict, Mueang Chiang Rai District.
Officers said the men looked uneasy and walked around instead of doing any farm work.
Because of the suspicious behavior, officers inspected the ground around the plots. They noticed a long strip of soil that looked freshly dug. After checking the pit, they found bamboo placed like a cover and more than 30 woven sacks buried inside.
Once opened, every sack contained methamphetamine tablets. Officials estimated about 200,000 pills per sack, adding up to roughly 6,000,000 pills in total. Officers arrested all three men at the scene.
During initial questioning, the suspects said the sacks came from the Thai-Myanmar border area in Mae Sai. They admitted they buried the drugs to hide them until they got orders to move them deeper into Thailand. They also told officers the plan was to transport the drugs mixed in with agricultural produce.
Authorities sent the suspects and seized drugs to investigators at Mae Sai Police Station to proceed with charges and expand the investigation.
The Pha Muang Task Force (sometimes written as Pha Muang or Pha Meuang) plays a major role in border security and drug suppression along northern Thailand. The unit works heavily in provinces such as Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Day to day, teams run patrols, set up checkpoints, and stop suspected smuggling routes.
Their main target is methamphetamine moving in from border areas near Myanmar and Laos. As a result, operations sometimes end in armed clashes, large drug seizures, and arrests.
In Chiang Rai, the task force has stayed active through early 2026, especially in border districts like Mae Sai and Mae Fa Luang. Reports through February continued to mention big hauls, including seizures in the millions of pills after January. These efforts support Thailand’s wider push to curb trafficking tied to the Golden Triangle region.
Recent Seizures by the Pha Meuang Task Force in Chiang Rai
- Late January 2026 (around January 26): Mae Sai Police, working with investigation teams, found about 975,000 methamphetamine pills. Officers discovered the pills hidden in a vehicle at a hotel parking area in Village 10, Wiang Phang Kham Subdistrict, Mae Sai District. Police arrested two suspects.
- Late January 2026 (around January 30): Pha Muang Task Force troops exchanged gunfire with smugglers near Ban Huai Nam Rin in Mae Sai District while trying to stop a trafficking group.
- January 30, 2026 (reported around January 31): The Pha Muang Task Force, including units such as the 3rd Cavalry Company and Special Task Force Thap Jaotak, confronted 30 to 35 carriers near Ban Huai Nam Rin, Village No. 7, Wiang Phang Kham Subdistrict, Mae Sai. Troops seized about 6 million methamphetamine pills, packed in 30 modified sacks with roughly 200,000 pills per sack. Authorities detained a 17-year-old carrier, who said traffickers hired him and others for the job. From October 2025 to late January 2026, the task force reported 190 drug interceptions and 202 arrests.
- January 2026 (around January 30 to 31): At the Chiang Rai Bus Terminal, police stopped an effort to send methamphetamine south by bus. In one case, officers seized 1.2 million methamphetamine pills in four large bags, with about 300,000 pills per bag. Police arrested two men from Trang.
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