A suspected drug mule was arrested and 4.8 million methamphetamine pills and 978 kilograms of crystal meth or “ice” were seized after two pickup trucks sped through a road checkpoint in Chiang Rai early Saturday.
Army rangers made the arrest after giving chase from the checkpoint in Ban Sai Kad village in Tambon Tab Tao in Chiang Rai’s Thoeng district.
The rangers caught up to the two pickups in Ban Rak Paen Din in the same tambon.
Laopo Saefa, 46, a hill tribe man, was arrested after his pickup plunged into the ditch. The driver of the other truck fled on foot into the dark forest after abandoning it at the forest edge.
The rangers from the 31st Ranger Regiment Pha Muang Taskforce signalled the two drivers to stop as they approached their checkpoint at 2:30 am Saturday, but the vehicles sped through.
The drugs were found in the back of the two pickups.
