An anti-narcotics police officer and a suspected drug trafficker were killed and another officer was injured in a gun battle following a car chase in Mueang district of the northern province of Chiang Rai on Tuesday night.
Police seized about six million meth pills and an unspecified amount of crystal meth (Ice), found in a pickup truck used by the drug trafficking gang. A 9mm semi-automatic pistol was found near the body of the alleged trafficker, whose identity was not disclosed.
A narcotics suppression squad was dispatched last night to a secondary road in Mae Yao sub-district, to set up a road block at about 9pm, after they received a tipoff that a car used by traffickers was to deliver a substantial amount of illicit drugs from the border area to a customer in the inner area of the country.
When the suspect car was approaching the checkpoint, the police signalled the vehicle to stop for a search, but the driver crashed his car through the checkpoint and sped away, prompting the police to give chase.
The driver subsequently lost control of the car, which slammed into a roadside utility pole. He exited the damaged vehicle and opened fire on the police, triggering a brief gun battle which ended with the suspect and a police officer dead and another officer injured.
It is reported that another officer, Pol Lt-Col Veerasak Rattanaprayoon, narrowly escaped injury when a bullet sliced through his shirt.
