CHIANG RAI – Soldiers from the Pha Meuang Task Force stopped a drug caravan and seized 2 million meth pills after a brief firefight in Mae Sai district in the early hours of Thursday.
On Thursday, soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force moved in to inspect a recent clash site along the Thai–Myanmar border near Huai Nam Rin village, Moo 7, Wiang Phang Kham subdistrict, Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai province.
The operation followed a night patrol to monitor and block drug trafficking under the Narcotics Act in high‑risk areas. While the patrol team entered the Huai Nam Rin zone the previous night, they spotted a group of around 8 to 10 suspects.
Each person carried a modified sack made from woven straw, used as a backpack, and walked through forested hills into Thai territory. The soldiers then revealed their presence and tried to carry out a search.
The group replied by opening fire with weapons of unknown type and calibre, shooting heavily at the soldiers to clear a path for escape. The troops fired back, and a fierce exchange lasted for about 10 minutes, with gunshots echoing along the border.
The drug runners eventually fled into the darkness. Security forces then reinforced the area and maintained control throughout the night.
When troops re‑entered the clash site upon daylight Thursday, they found straw sacks scattered across the forested hillside. In total, 10 sacks were recovered. Each sack contained methamphetamine tablets marked with the blue “999” logo, estimated at around 200,000 pills per sack.
The haul was placed at roughly 2,000,000 pills altogether. The soldiers seized the drugs as evidence and kept tight security in the area to block further attempts.
On 13 November, the same network had already tried to smuggle meth tablets through the Huai Nam Rin route. That attempt also ended in gunfire. The traffickers dropped 5 straw sacks while fleeing, which held more than 1 million meth tablets.
Since then, officers have kept a strong presence in the area, although traffickers still tried again in this latest incident.
On the opposite side of Huai Nam Rin lies Ban Sam Pi, in Tachilek, Myanmar. This area is known as a staging point for drug shipments before they are moved into Thailand along the border road from Mae Fa Luang district to Mae Sai district. Key routes include Ban Pha Mee, Huai Nam Rin, and the Mae Sai border checkpoint.
Separate case, Highway Police arrest drug‑dealing couple linked to 5‑kilogram “crystal meth” seizure. On Wednesday, the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), through the Highway Police Division, arrested two suspects, one man and one woman, on charges of jointly selling and possessing with intent to sell methamphetamine.
The arrest took place at the rear car park of Mae Sai Hospital, Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai.
The case stemmed from an earlier incident on 5 August 2568, when officers at the Sop Prap Police Station checkpoint in Lampang province arrested a suspect travelling on a Mae Sai–Bangkok coach. A search of the luggage revealed 5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) packed inside 10 tea bags.
During questioning, the suspect admitted receiving the drugs from a married couple involved in trafficking. Investigators then gathered evidence and sought arrest warrants for both husband and wife, who had delivered the narcotics to the suspect before the checkpoint arrest.
Highway Police later tracked the pair down and detained them at Mae Sai Hospital. During the arrest, Mrs Ma (alias, the wife) began shaking and speaking incoherently. Mr Sor (alias, the husband) told officers that “a spirit had entered her”.
The arresting team calmly spoke to Mrs Ma, urged her to settle down, and asked that the spirit depart so the officers could proceed with legal procedures. Once she calmed, police were able to continue the arrest and related steps as required.
In initial interviews, both suspects confessed. They stated that a man known only as “Mr Ek” (real surname unknown) had hired them to deliver the drugs to another suspect. The handover point was at the Doi Pha Mee viewpoint in Mae Sai district, Chiang Rai.
That suspect was due to take the crystal meth on a coach to the South, but was later arrested at the Sop Prap Police Station checkpoint with 5 kilograms of crystal meth in his luggage.
