CHIANG RAI – Narcotics Suppression police have busted a drug gang preparing to move methamphetamine from the Chiang Dao and Chai Prakan border area along Highway 107 in Chiang Mai Province.
NSB officers coordinated with local police and soldiers intercepted a young man driving a white pickup with a metal cage loaded with over a ton of crystal meth hidden in black plastic bags. The team later stopped a second pickup, believed to be acting as a scout for the first vehicle.
They arrested a 30-year-old man from Inthakhin, Mae Taeng, after stopping his white Toyota pickup in San Mahaphon, Mae Taeng district. Inside the truck, they found 38 black plastic bags packed with methamphetamine, wrapped in straw sacks.
During questioning, the driver told police another pickup was leading the way as a scout. Officers followed and stopped this second vehicle, a black Toyota pickup with Chiang Mai plates, but the driver managed to escape.
Authorities seized both vehicles along with the drugs and sent all evidence and the arrested suspect to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau for prosecution.
On the same day, soldiers from the Pha Muang Force received a tip-off about drug trafficking along a natural border route in Tab Tao, Thoeng district, Chiang Rai, near Wiang Kaen and opposite Phu Pha Mon, Bokeo province, Laos.
Soldiers set out to patrol the area and soon spotted two suspicious men walking through the forest at Ban Rom Pho Thong, Moo 19, Tab Tao. When the soldiers approached, the men dropped their rucksacks and a handmade rifle before escaping into the forest.
Checking the abandoned bag, soldiers found 20,000 meth pills and a homemade long gun. Authorities believe the drugs were intended for local dealers along the border. The evidence was handed over to Thoeng Police for further action, with cooperation from local administrative and border patrol units.
Reports stated that an attack on the Lao military base at Phu Pha Mon occurred for the first time on 3rd May, resulting in the deaths of three Lao soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, a captain, and a lieutenant, with three more wounded.
Following the clash, Lao authorities did not release details about the attackers, but many suspect the incident may be linked to drug trafficking gangs using northern Thailand’s border routes.
Methamphetamine trafficking in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is a significant issue, deeply tied to the region’s proximity to the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar converge.
This area, particularly Myanmar’s Shan State, is a major hub for methamphetamine production, with large quantities of both methamphetamine pills (locally called “yaba” or “crazy drug”) and crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) being trafficked through Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to domestic and international markets.
