Narcotics police detail November busts and shootout case
The month of November has been a fruitful one for narcotics police, with 7 cases netting 12 arrests, 200 kilogrammes of marijuana, 300 kilogrammes of crystal meth, and 6.4 million meth pills. Narcotics suppression officials announced the totals today and gave new details of the most prolific case which ended in a shootout but confiscated 6 million meth pills last week.
The sensational story took place on November 13 as a suspect in a black pickup truck ploughed through a roadblock as police scrambled to give chase. His vehicle veered off the street into a creek alongside the road, in what appeared to be an accident. The police forces in pursuit caught up immediately after the crash and attempted to capture the suspect but were met with gunshots.
In the end, the man was shot and killed and police discovered the 6 million meth pills in his car. They also seized 3 mobile phones, a gun, and a grenade from the suspect’s body. Now the chief of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau gave more details about the shocking case.
Police had become aware of a Muser tribesman leading a drug trafficking network that planned on smuggling a shipment through Mae Ai and Fang districts in Chiang Mai on November 13. Police in the narcotics suppression unit partnered with soldiers to set up a checkpoint in Mae Ai where they tried to stop the drug runner’s pickup truck.
Police now revealed that the suspect had been identified already by investigators before the incident and that the man had a criminal record and a previous warrant out for his arrest issued by the Lampang Provincial Court after allegedly smuggling 400,000 meth pills several years ago in 2017.
Police had already rounded up 7 members of his drug network, along with his wife and son and some of his friends. 5 members of his team are still at large though, with warrents out for their arrest.
SOURCE: The Phuket News
