Seven drug traffickers died, thousands meth pills sized after clash with Thai authorities

CHIANG RAI, April 12 (TNA) - Thai security forces have killed seven drug traffickers and seized 700,000 tablets of methamphetamine pills after clashing with them in this northernmost province, an official said. The 30-minute-long clash took place before dawn Saturday in a forest near a village in Mae Fah Luang district, the official said. The combined security forces spotted about 10 men crossing the Thai-Myanmar border and ordered them to stop for a search. The men refused and began firing at the security forces. Both sides exchanged gunfire and seven men were found dead at the scene after the gunfight, the official said. The security forces also seized about the methamphetamine pills hidden in six bags and a hand grenade. According to the official, the armed drug traffickers were members of notorious drug kingpin Lieutenant Colonel Yi Se, who is wanted under a warrant issued in Thailand with bounty of five million baht for information leading to his arrest. Also, in Chiang Rai, police apprehended a 20-year-old man and seized about 100,000 tablets of methamphetamine from him while he was travelling in a bus heading for Bangkok. The man confessed during a police interrogation that he was hired to hand over the drug to another person at a petrol station in the capital. (End)