Para-military rangers killed two drug couriers and seized about 100,000 methamphetamine tablets in a dense forest about 700 metres from the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province on late Saturday afternoon.
A ranger unit from the Pha Muang task force was on a routine patrol near the border in Ban Pa Mee, Tambon Wiang Pan Kham, when they stumbled on a group of four armed men believed to be drug couriers.
The rangers ordered the armed men to stop for a search only to find themselves shot at as the armed men tried to make good their escape. A brief gunfight ensued and during the clash, one of the intruders set fire to dry bushes to send out smoke to facilitate their escape.
After the gunshots fell silent, the rangers combed the clash site and found two dead men, one of them was torched. A knapsack was found next to the bodies and a subsequent search uncovered 100,000 methamphitamine pills.
(Source:ThaiPBS)