Crime High-Speed Drug Chase Ends in Phayao – 2.8 Million Meth Pills Seized in Abandoned Car

[Georgealbert]

 

Picture courtesy of Khaosod.

 

A dramatic police pursuit from Chiang Rai to Phayao ended with a major drug bust, as authorities seized over 2.8 million methamphetamine tablets hidden in a vehicle abandoned in a longan orchard in Dok Khamtai district.

 

The incident began when Border Patrol Police Company 32 in Chiang Rai’s Mae Chan district identified a suspicious black Mitsubishi sedan, registration from Lampang, suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking. Officers attempted to intercept the vehicle, but the suspects fled, leading police on a high-speed chase across provincial lines into neighbouring Phayao.

 

Upon reaching Huai Lan subdistrict, the suspects veered off the main road and abandoned the vehicle in a longan plantation in Village 8, near the Thung Ton Si reservoir. Two occupants, a man and a woman, fled into the nearby forest.

 

Local officials, including Deputy District Chief Flight Sergeant Pongsatewin Tantaow, along with members of the territorial defence volunteer corps and village leaders, quickly mobilised to support the search operation. After combing the area, officers apprehended a woman emerging from the forest, who confessed to having been a passenger in the vehicle. The male suspect remains at large.

 

A thorough search of the abandoned car uncovered 14 fertiliser sackscontaining methamphetamine tablets, with an estimated 200,000 pills per sack, totalling over 2.8 million yaba tablets. The seized drugs and the female suspect were handed over to police investigators for prosecution.

 

Authorities believe the smuggling operation is linked to a cross-border drug trafficking network operating along Thailand’s northern frontier. Investigations are ongoing to trace the broader criminal organisation and apprehend the remaining suspect.

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khaosod 2025-07-25