CHIANG MAI – Soldiers from the Pha Muang Task Force shot and killed a caravan of drug runners in a firefight at Doi Laem Pass, Mae Ai border in Chiang Mai Province.
Lt. Col. Meechai Nilsat, deputy commander of the Pha Muang Ranger Force told a press briefing that Initial findings show that at least 6 drug-trafficking gang members were killed in the forest and 13 backpacks, with more than a million methamphetamine pills were seized.
He said the clash occurred after the Ranger Control Division The 3rd Army Area Operations Center (3rd Army Area Control Command), Pha Muang Task Force, received a tip-off that a group of drug traffickers would be transporting drugs into Thailand by foot from the neighboring country’s border, through a natural channel, Doi Laem Channel, Ban Huai Nam Yen, Village No. 4, Tha Ton Subdistrict, Mae Ai District, Chiang Mai Province.
At approximately 11:15 p.m.on September 6, the task force found approximately 10 suspicious men carrying modified backpacks and weapons walking into the deployment area, so they identified themselves to request a search.
However, they were fired upon by the group, so they returned fire for about half an hour. After the gunfire stopped no members of the task force were injured.
At daybreak they investigated the area of the firefight and found the bodies of 6 drug smugglers, and 13 modified backpacks containing Category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine pills), 100,000-200,000 pills per backpack, totaling about 1,300,000 pills, a shotgun, shotgun shells, and several AK-47 shells.
T Lt. Col. Meechai the evidence is currently being examined by relevant agencies and would be transferred to the Chiang Mai Provincial police station for holding.
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