Fifteen suspected drug traffickers were killed by soldiers in northern Thailand near the border with Myanmar, a Thai army official said on Monday.
The shooting occurred Saturday evening in Mae Fah Luang district of Chiang Rai province, near the “Golden Triangle,” a major drug trafficking hub in Southeast Asia.
After the confrontation, soldiers found 17 bags containing more than two million amphetamine tablets. “We cannot yet determine whether the 15 people were all Thai or not,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Myanmar is a major producer of amphetamines, an illegal synthetic drug that is largely smuggled through Thailand and Laos.
The country has fallen into chaos since the military coup in February 2021 and its economy is in ruins, but the production of synthetic drugs such as amphetamines and heroin is flourishing there, especially in Shan State (east).
In the hilly jungle regions along Thailand's northern border with Myanmar, deadly shootouts between military patrols and drug traffickers are not uncommon.
A clash last September left a smuggler and a police officer dead, and a year ago 15 suspects were shot dead by the army in Chiang Rai as they tried to cross the border on foot.