Bangkok: Police hunted down a drug trafficking gang and seized 8 million methamphetamine pills. Bangkok police pursued a drug trafficking ring, resulting in a fierce shootout late at night on the Lopburi bypass road. They seized 8 million methamphetamine pills, while two suspects abandoned their vehicle and fled into the nearby forest.
According to Thai News Agency, late last night, residents called the 191 police hotline in Lopburi reporting hearing gunshots, resembling a shootout, on Phahonyothin Road near the traffic light intersection on the Lopburi bypass road in Nikhom Saeng Ton Eng Subdistrict, Mueang Lopburi District. Lopburi City Police responded and found over 20 Bangkok Metropolitan Police officers, armed, pursuing drug traffickers and firing at the tires of a vehicle, causing all four tires to burst and rendering it immobile. The two suspects took advantage of the chaos and fled into the forest.
Upon inspecting a gold-colored pickup truck with a canopy parked on the roadside, officers found four flat tires and a shattered left door window. The windows were completely covered with curtains. In the truck bed, they found 40 sacks of fertilizer containing 8 million methamphetamine pills, worth over 40 million baht. No injuries or fatalities were found inside the vehicle. It was learned that the two suspects had abandoned the vehicle and fled into the nearby forest into the darkness before the officers arrived.
Following an investigation, the Bangkok Metropolitan Police expanded their arrest of drug suspects and learned of a large-scale methamphetamine smuggling operation from the North, using the Lopburi bypass road towards Saraburi province during the Buddhist Lent holiday. They obtained concrete evidence that the drug gang was using a pickup truck to transport the drugs to Saraburi. Police officers then monitored the route and eventually spotted the pickup truck matching the description driving on the Lopburi bypass road towards the Phahonyothin intersection. They pursued the vehicle, but the suspects, realizing they were being followed, sped away. Upon reaching the three-way intersection with Phahonyothin Road, police surrounded the vehicle, but the suspects attempted to flee towards Phra Phutthabat district. Officers fired at the tires of all four trucks to stop the escape. The suspects, refusing to surrender, escaped on foot into the nearby forest and disappeared into the darkness. To date, their whereabouts h ave been unknown.
Authorities will expedite the investigation to identify the owners of the vehicles used by the suspects to transport the methamphetamine, before summoning them for questioning to determine if they are involved with the drug gang. All seized methamphetamine will also be examined for latent fingerprints to apprehend the two suspects and any other individuals involved for prosecution.