Army troops seized 2.2 million methamphetamine pills and 11 kilos of crystal meth following their pursuit of a pickup truck that began late on Tuesday night, police said.
The chase started after troops of the Chiang Rai-based Second Cavalry lset up a checkpoint on the Ban Samakkhi Mai-Huay San Kao road in Tambon Mae Fah Luang, Mae Fah Lung district, and spotted a pickup parking on a roadside.
The troops alerted narcotics suppression police, but before they could check the pickup it sped off towards Mae Chan district.
A team of police and troops gave chase on the Fang-Mae Chan road until they finally caught up with pickup, abandoned on a mountain road near Phrathat Saengkham Temple in Tambon Mae Chan, Mae Chan district, at 12.30am.
The driver and a passenger seen during the chase had disappeared.
A search of the vehicle unearthed 2.2 million meth pills packed into 15 bags, along with 11kg of “ice”.
The seizure took place in the so-called Golden Triangle that covers the borderlands of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, and hides one of the world's largest centres of narcotics production and distribution.