Chiang Rai — Gunfire rang out through a rubber plantation as cavalry soldiers from the Chao Tak Task Force lay in ambush along the bank of the Ruak River on the Chiang Saen border, acting on solid intelligence. A drug caravan was spotted crossing the river and making its way through the undergrowth into a rubber plantation, where its members opened fire on officials to prevent a search before abandoning their cargo and fleeing into the night. Nearly 2 million methamphetamine pills were seized.
Today (8 Aug.), Maj. Gen. Sathit Waiyanon, Commander of the Pha Mueang Task Force, assigned Col. Suphan Roi Phut, Commander of the Chao Tak Task Force under the Pha Mueang Task Force, to lead officers in a press briefing on the incident. Soldiers from Cavalry Company 4 of the Chao Tak Task Force and the Pha Thamil Headquarters of the Chao Tak Task Force had received information that a drug-trafficking network was planning to covertly transport straw sacks filled with large quantities of Category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine) across the Ruak River along the Thai–Myanmar border into Thai territory in the Sri Don Mun sub-district area, Chiang Saen district, Chiang Rai province.
Officers deployed and lay in wait along the border near the riverbank. At around 00:30 hours today, they heard a group of people walking up from the riverbank through the undergrowth and into a rubber plantation situated far from any residential community in the Wiang Kaew village area, Moo 5, Sri Don Mun sub-district, Chiang Saen district — a group of approximately 10–15 individuals.
Officers then revealed themselves to conduct a search, but the group opened fire on them, triggering a firefight that lasted approximately five minutes. During the exchange, the suspects threw the goods they had been carrying into the rubber plantation and then fled. All officers were unharmed.
Officers subsequently secured the area throughout the night. At dawn, they entered the site of the clash and found 10 large black plastic bags scattered about. Inside each bag were rainbow-coloured straw sacks, and within each straw sack were methamphetamine pills — 200,000 pills per sack — for a combined total of 1,928,000 pills. Officers then coordinated with Pol. Col. Anuphan Kantharats, Superintendent of Chiang Saen Police Station, Pol. Lt. Col. Suphakorn Thanuson, Deputy Superintendent (Investigation) of Chiang Saen Police Station, and other relevant agencies to inspect and formally seize the evidence for further follow-up.
News reports indicate that from 1 October 2025 to the present, the Pha Mueang Task Force has intercepted narcotics on 466 occasions, engaging drug-trafficking networks in 65 clashes, with 50 network members killed, 445 suspects arrested, and the following seized: 236,916,745 methamphetamine pills, 20,026 grams of heroin, 6,674,304 grams of crystal methamphetamine (ice), and 378,066 grams of opium. Had all of these narcotics reached Bangkok, the economic damage from their street value would have amounted to 49,340 million baht.
