Suspect, 3m pills caught

>> CHIANG MAI: A suspected member of a drug-smuggling gang has been arrested and almost 3 million pills seized near the Thai-Myanmar border in Chiang Dao district.

Lhao Boontai, whose identity and nationality have not yet been verified, was caught and 19 rucksacks containing 2.84 million speed pills seized about 1.5km away from the border area at Arunothai village in tambon Muangna on Friday, Lt Gen Wichak Siribansop, 3rd Army Region chief, said during a press conference yesterday.

The arrest came after patrol officers from the Pha Muang military task force spotted two men carrying rucksacks near the Nong Kalang border pass in Arunothai village at around 9.40am on Friday. As they acted suspiciously, the patrol team stopped them for a search, but the men immediately abandoned their rucksacks and ran away. One of them was subsequently caught.

The speed pills were believed to belong to members of a foreign gang who smuggled the drugs into Thai soil.

The drugs would be kept at a storage point in Arunothai village, which was about 2km from the border pass, but they were seized by the patrol team, said the 3rd Army Region chief.

The seized speed pills, double-wrapped with white and yellow paper, had three different logos — an eagle stepping on an apple, YI and WY stamps.

Since October last year, military patrol teams have seized 8.6 million methamphetamine pills of the 11.5 million pills seized in northern border areas.