Five armed men guarding a Myanmar drug caravan shot dead by troops in Chiang Rai

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Army troops shot dead five allegedly armed drug smugglers who were guarding a drug caravan near the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai. They seized about one million methamphetamine pills from the scene.

Thai PBS reports that the clash took place on Saturday night, about 700 metres from the Myanmar border between troops of the Pa Muang task force and unidentified guards of a drug caravan with a shipment of fresh drugs.

Because of the darkness and the danger of ambushes, the troops didn’t move in to inspect the scene of the shooting until Sunday morning with the arrival of reinforcements from the Pa Muang task force.

The troops combed the site and found four five unidentified bodies scattered around. No ID cards were found on the bodies and it was suspected that were ethnic minority tribespeople from across the border.

The troops also found five bags containing about one million methamphetamine pills and some ammunition.

Informed military sources say that the clash was not far away from Ban Sampee in Myanmar’s border township of Tha Chilek known to be the base of a Muser armed group led by Lt-Col Yee Tse who is known to be involved in the drug trade.

SOURCE: Thai PBS