Chiang Rai Police Chase Leads to Seizure of 6 Million Meth Pills

A police chase in the Mae Suay area of Chiang Rai province has led to the seizure of around 6 million methamphetamine pills and the arrest of one suspect.

At a press conference, Chiang Rai provincial police revealed that on September 20, at around 8:40 p.m., police in the Mae Suay region of Chiang Rai noticed two pickup trucks carrying suspected smugglers along the Mae Lao – Mae Suay road.

Mae Suay police tracked the two cars and called their counterparts in Mae Lao to set up an interception checkpoint.

The two pickups turned around as they approached the checkpoint and returned to the Mae Suay neighbourhood via the median.

Following their trail, police found one of the pickups wrecked in a ditch outside Moo 1 hamlet in tambon Mae Prik. According to the authorities, the motorist abandoned 31 bags holding 6 million meth pills before taking off.

Mae Suay police later stopped the other car on the highway between Tha Ko and Wiang Pa Pao and arrested the driver.

The commissioner of Provincial Police Region 5 in Chiang Rai said police had arrested 25,739 drug suspects in 28,875 cases between October 2021 and September 2022.

Police have seized 178.8 million meth pills, 1.2 kilograms of crystal meth, 28.3 kilograms of heroin, 195 kilograms of opium, 151 kilograms of ketamine, and impounded drug-related assets worth approximately 636 million baht.