CHIANG RAI – Soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force patrolled the Thai-Myanmar border. They aimed to stop drug smugglers in Tambon Thaod Thai, Mae Fa Luang district, Chiang Rai province. This followed the Narcotics Act of 2021.
Around 1:20 a.m., soldiers spotted something odd. About 10 to 15 people moved through the forest path at Pang Nun 1. The spot sat in Phaya Phrai Lit village, house number 11. These suspects carried heavy loads. Each one shouldered a rice sack turned backpack. Steep hills surrounded the area.
Soldiers stepped forward to check the bags. But the group opened fire first. They used unknown guns and blasted away to escape. A fierce shootout lasted 10 minutes. Luckily, no soldiers got hurt. So, they called in backup right away. Reinforcements locked down the zone.
By 6:30 a.m., teams swept the clash site and nearby woods. They found two dead men from the smuggling crew. Bullets from the soldiers’ weapons ended their lives on the spot. In addition, 10 sacks lay scattered around. Each held roughly 200,000 meth pills, or yaba.
That added up to about 2 million pills total. Troops grabbed the drugs as evidence. Then, they notified other agencies for inspections. Patrols stay tight to block more runs.
Meanwhile, police intercepted two major drug loads at the Sabprap checkpoint in Lampang. First, they grabbed 8 million meth pills hidden under cabbage. Then, they found 1 million more pills plus 2 kilograms of ice stuffed in a luxury car. Three suspects are in custody now.
Officers from Sabprap station, Region 5 anti-drug task force, and intelligence unit spotted trouble early. They used AI to scan license plates and track routes. A suspicious pickup headed from Tak province to Chiang Rai.
It looped back through Phayao into Lampang. That happened around 2 a.m. on March 27, 2026.
So, they alerted the Sabprap drug checkpoint. A black Toyota Revo pickup rolled up with Bangkok plates. The driver, Mr Phottham, acted nervously, so the police conducted a vehicle search.
A search revealed 27 sacks of meth pills buried under cabbage in the truck bed, totaling about 8 million pills.
Mr. Phottham confessed right away. A Lao transwoman hired him through the Line app. His job? Deliver to Ayutthaya province.
Two days later, on March 29, around 10:40 p.m., the same team got a tip. Drug runners moved loads from the upper north to the central areas. They set up another checkpoint.
A white Hino six-wheeler slide truck approached with Bangkok plates, hauling a gray Mercedes-Benz. Mr. Yutthapong, from Klong Sam Wa in Bangkok, was behind the wheel.
Mr Yutthapong told police someone paid him to haul the Benz from Fang district in Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Officers searched the car and found meth pills crammed in compartments. In total, one million pills and 2 kilograms of crystal meth were discovered.
From October 1, 2025, to March 30, 2026, Region 5 cops nailed 14,849 drug cases. That includes 179 big ones. They seized over 278 million meth pills. Ice totaled 6,040 kilograms. Heroin: 72 kilograms. Ketamine: 587 kilograms. Opium: 187 kilograms. Related assets? About 542 million baht.
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