Eight killed in gunfight with drug gang in far North

Meanwhile, eight men alleged to be part of a group transporting drugs into the far North were killed early yesterday in a major drug bust that led to the seizure of 70 kilograms of crystal meth or “ice” and 550,000 yaba (speed) tablets.
Chalerm said the deadly border gunfight resulted from gangs in neighbouring countries smuggling drugs into Thailand so he had spoken to Myanmar authorities to help crack down on drugs.
He said the law amendment to have drug convicts executed within 15 days of their final verdict was not against the Constitution and would help stop convicted criminals dealing drugs from behind bars.
Chalerm later commented about a case in which drug dealers had a 9yearold child deliver a couple of yaba tablets in exchange for Bt20, saying this was a minor endresult but what he was tackling now was the root of the problem – drug suppression along the border. He thanked the Army chief for having a barbedwire fence set up and said this had made the job easier, along with the crackdown on narcotics ingredients such as medicine with pseudoephedrine and getting Myanmar to help with drug issues.
Most yaba was smuggled via Tachilek, across from Mae Sai, but some was smuggled across the Northeast border. Chalerm said he would visit the North this weekend and urge the eight provincial governors in the region to work with police to suppress drugs.
In Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district, a 100strong force of police and borderpatrolpolice staked out at a mountain ridge in Ban Pha Mee, Tambon Wiang Pang Kham, early yesterday after receiving an investigation lead that a major gang would smuggle drugs into Thailand across the border. They found a group of 1012 armed men who allegedly resisted the officials’ request to allow a search, resulting in a gunfight.
Police later found the bodies of eight suspects, with several rifles and pistols, plus nine backpacks, inside of which were the “ice” and yaba. Officials scanned the woods to hunt for fugitives and any more backpacks that may have been left behind.
National police chief Pol General Priewpan Damapong, who checked the scene later, said the gang tried to smuggle drugs through an area that was difficult to inspect, as areas usually accessed were fenced with barbed wire. However, the border was thousands of kilometres long and there were still points of access for smugglers, hence officials had to work together. He said this drug case investigation found the gang, possibly armed hilltribe people, planned to bury the drugs at a fruit orchard and a vegetable patch for future retrieval before transporting the drugs to inner cities. He said police were probing further to find local members of their network and customers.