Thailand intensifies drug crackdowns

BANGKOK, January 30 (TNA) - Thai soldiers of the Pha Muang Task Force clashed with drug traffickers Monday near the border in the northern Chiang Mai Province, killing three traffickers. The clash happened at 7 a.m. near Ban Huay San village of Mae Ai District in Chiang Mai Province, the area where Thai soldiers exchanged gunfire with Red Wa troops last week. The soldiers were patrolling the area as part of their daily effort to prevent drug smuggling attempts when they encountered a group of 10 armed drug traffickers. After the gunfight which lasted for about 10 minutes, the soldiers inspected the battlefield and found the dead bodies of three drug traffickers dressed in Red Wa uniform, an M16 rifle, and five kilograms of heroin in a backpack near the bodies. Other traffickers retreated across the border. Regarding the follow-up of a recent seizure of drugs worth about one billion baht at a house in Bangkok's suburban Pathum Thani Province, narcotic suppression police brought an arrested suspect, Sergeant Major Venus Srijai who was charged with illegally possessing the narcotics, to the Criminal Court in Bangkok Monday to seek his further detention. The police opposed his temporary release to prevent his escape and sought arrest warrants for three more suspects who are among six suspects having been at large, as the police have enough information about all suspects. Police of the Baan Paeng Station in Thailand's northern Nakhon Phanom Province, on the other hand, seized 393 kilograms of compressed marijuana worth over 5 million baht; while a driver who dumped the packs of marijuana fled the scene. Meanwhile, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) started training on a networking of anti-drug suppression in Asia, in which representatives from 24 countries participated, aimed at blocking drug smuggling from Europe and other continents. (TNA)