SPEEDBOAT CHASE ON MEKONG TURNS UP 140,000 SPEED PILLS

Smugglers Shot And Drown In River

Worachat Kongkaew Public Relations Department, Chiang Rai

Two drug dealers were shot by Thai police and the Mekong Marine Operations
Unit and drowned in the Mekong River while they were attempting to smuggle
ya ba (speed) pills into Thailand.

The unit spotted a speedboat on the Mekong River with a flag of unknown
nationality. Police and the unit called it to stop for a search, but the
pair aboard opened fire on the police as they tried to escape.

The Thai police officers returned fire, wounding the traffickers who fell
into the river and, weighted down by the extra led in their system, drowned.

Police searched the vessel and found 140,000 ya ba tablets, which they
confiscated and took to Chiang Saen district police station.

It is believed the traffickers were trying to deliver drugs to dealers in
Sob Ruak village in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district.

A source had tipped off police that large amounts of ya ba tablets were
being prepared for delivery into Thailand via the eastern half of the upper
northern province borders. Most drug trafficking takes place through Phu
Chee Fah, Ban Salaeng, Chiang Kam district in Nan province and passes
through Phrae province's Song District before being sent to the Central Plains.