Thai police seize large number of illicit drugs

CHIANG RAI, THAILAND, February 15 (TNA) - Thailand's narcotic suppression police on Friday clashed with drug traffickers in the northern Chiang Rai province and seized over 2 million methamphetamine pills and 50 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine or “ice”, worth over 1 billion baht. The clash erupted when the Thai police were trying to stop four suspicious vehicles on the Mae Chan-Chiang Saen Road in Chiang Rai's Mae Chan locality, but the motorists, who were trying to escape and their passengers, then opened fire at the police. After the clash, three men were arrested and one of them was seriously injured. The Thai police also seized some 2.2 million methamphetamine pills, 50 kilograms of “ice”, totally worth over 1 billion baht, and even vehicles, firearms and a hand grenade from the armed suspects. The suspected drug traffickers are Hmong hill tribe people from Chiang Rai's Thoeng district. The Thai police assumed that the suspects had received the drugs from a neighboring country and would deliver them to buyers in an adjoining area between Mae Sai and Mae Fah Luang districts. But the Thai narcotic suppression police were provided tip-offs of their movement and they could tackle the traffickers. Some of the drug traffickers could escape and the Thai police have been hunting for them, as well as all those behind their operation. (TNA)