2 SHOT, 2 NABBED IN DRUG STINGS

Helicopter Tails Fugitive In Canal Chase From Lad Krabang

Mounting simultaneous stings in Bangkok and Chiang Rai, anti-drug police
yesterday shot dead two suspected traffickers and arrested two others,
while another pair remained at large. They also seized 620,000
meth-amphetamine tablets.

Although such drug crackdowns continues, the government has repeated its
claim to have wiped out the trade in illicit drugs and plans to declare the
country a drug-free zone next month in tribute to His Majesty the King.

In the first sting yesterday, undercover officers convinced two traffickers
to deliver 180,000 "speed" tablets to a Lad Krabang toll-gate rendezvous on
the Bangkok-Chon Buri motorway.

Some 60 commandos were waiting for them at 6am, and police had a roadblock
ready if the suspects tried to flee. But Sila Pitwisai and Withee Sri-iam
surprised them by arriving by boat in the adjoining canal.

Police said Sila spotted the trap as he climbed up the bank, dropped
plastic bags containing the drugs and shot at the commandos, injuring two,
before being shot himself as he ran back to the boat.

Withee, meanwhile, fled in the boat, sparking a two-hour chase involving a
police helicopter that tracked the boat as it zigzagged through a complex
web of waterways.

Withee, who previously served 17 years for robbery, and Sila, who has no
prior criminal record, were taken into police custody without bail.

Police recovered the methamphetamine pills, which have an estimated market
value of Bt13 million.

In yesterday's second operation, police -- saying they shot in self-defence
- -- killed two suspected traffickers.

Sangwian Thongphum, a police informant code-named CH038, was shot five
times, Paisal Kongkaew six.

Police found 50,000 methamphetamine tablets in Sangwian's pick-up truck.

In the final sting, Chiang Rai police were in position as two Thai suspects
delivered drugs to a remote area in Mae Sai district, 500 metres from the
Burmese border.

But before police could move in, the pair fled across the border, leaving
390,000 methamphetamine tablets behind.

Provincial Police Region 5 commissioner Lt Gen Chalor Chuwong said he
believed the drugs were produced by Burma's Wa minority group.

"A police intelligence report indicated that the Wa gang had plans to
smuggle a shipment of 1.5 million methamphetamine tablets into the country.
Police are now on alert to track down the remaining one million tablets,"
he said.

Chalor said drug gangs from across the border were desperate to unload
their stocks because while the pills continue to be churned out, the market
on the Thai side was been hit hard because of the anti-drug campaign.