CHIANG RAI – Army Rangers under Pha Muang Task Force launched a late-night chase after a suspicious pickup truck sped downhill in Mae Chan and blasted through a checkpoint. The vehicle later lost control and got stuck in a pineapple field.
When officers searched it, they found 20 sacks of methamphetamine pills, estimated at no less than 3 million tablets. The driver escaped into the darkness and hasn’t been found.
The operation followed orders from Col. Chakkaphong Sodsri, commander of Task Force 31, who directed rangers to set up mobile checkpoints and roadblocks in the Pa Miang Village area (Village 9, Pa Tueng Subdistrict, Mae Chan District).
The unit kept patrols active after receiving intelligence that a drug trafficking group planned to move narcotics from the Thai-Myanmar border area, passing through Mae Fa Luang and Mae Chan in Chiang Rai.
At around 12:50 a.m. on March 15, 2026, rangers spotted a suspicious vehicle, a bronze-silver Ford four-door pickup with Chiang Rai plates, coming down the mountain at high speed. Officers signaled the driver to stop. However, the pickup accelerated and forced its way through the checkpoint, so the team immediately pursued it.
During the chase, the driver turned off the main road and headed into agricultural land near Rung Charoen Village (Village 11, Sri Kham Subdistrict, Mae Chan District). Soon after, the pickup ran into trouble while trying to climb a hillside pineapple field. The rear wheels sank into a muddy rut, leaving the vehicle stuck and unable to continue.
When officers reached the truck, no one was inside. Investigators believe the driver ran off under the cover of darkness. Rangers then searched the vehicle and found blue woven sacks wrapped in black plastic. Fourteen sacks sat in the truck bed, and another six were placed behind the driver’s seat, for a total of 20 sacks. Each sack held about 150,000 meth pills, bringing the total estimated seizure to about 3,000,000 tablets.
Authorities seized the drugs and coordinated with related agencies to expand the investigation and proceed under the law. Later, Col. Suphan Roi Phut, commander of the Chao Tak Task Force, assigned Col. Thawat Inkhong, deputy commander, to inspect the evidence and join Task Force 31 and other agencies for an official briefing on the interdiction.
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