Police yesterday seized 7.4 million speed pills and 200 kgs of crystal methamphetamine and arrested three people in connection with the illicit drugs in Chiang Rai's Wiang Kaen district.
The confiscation was made by officers from Police Region 5 and local police after receiving a tip-off about a major drug shipment along the border in the district.
A task force led by Pol Col Manop Senakul was monitoring for suspicious activities in Ban Huay Ian in tambon Lai Ngao when they spotted a group of men carrying sacks from the Mekong river to a road.
The men fled but two were detained. The suspects were identified as Wirat sae Li, 25, and Thongchai Wejchamnan, 27.
Found at the scene were 37 fertiliser sacks containing 7.4 million methamphetamine pills and eight others containing 200 kgs of "ice". They were seized and taken to Wiang Kaen police station.
Another teen suspect, who was not identified, was detained near the village hours later in a follow-up investigation.
Pol Col Manop, acting deputy chief of Chiang Rai police, said the drug trafficking network was linked to a group of Hmong villagers in a neighbouring country who smuggled in the drug via the Mekong river.
