CHIANG MAI – Police say a late-night operation in Mae Ai ended in gunfire after suspected drug couriers rammed a Border Patrol Police vehicle and opened fire. One suspect was killed at the scene, another escaped, and officers seized around 2 million meth pills.
Officers from the intelligence and anti-narcotics teams of Border Patrol Company 334, working with the forward command of the Narcotics Suppression Centre under Border Patrol Police Region 3, were following a target car linked to a suspected drug transport network.
The vehicle was reported as a white Toyota Vios with Chiang Mai registration, believed to be moving drugs from the Doi Laem area in Mae Ai district, Chiang Mai, late on 29 December.
Officers said the car was intercepted on Road 4016 near Ban San Khong, Malika sub-district, Mae Ai. When officers signalled for the vehicle to stop and showed their presence with lights, the driver accelerated and crashed into the police vehicle. Investigators said the suspects also fired at officers with a firearm of an unknown type.
Officers returned fire in self-defence. They said two suspects then ran from the car into nearby rice fields, with gunfire continuing for about three minutes before it stopped. After the exchange, officers searched the area and found one suspect dead at the scene. The second suspect got away.
Inside the car, officers found 10 sacks of Category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine tablets). The total was estimated at no less than 2 million pills. On 30 December, officers delivered the seized drugs and other evidence to investigators at Mae Ai Police Station to support legal proceedings.
Border Patrol officers said teams have been sent out to track down the escaped suspect and expand the investigation to identify others connected to the network.
