The clash on Saturday evening took place in Chiang Rai province's Mae Fah Luang district, close to the "Golden Triangle" where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet, which has long been a hub for smuggling.
After the clash, officers found 17 bags containing more than two million amphetamine tablets, the army official told AFP.
"We cannot identify yet whether the 15 were all Thais or not," he said on condition of anonymity.
Myanmar is a major producer of illegal amphetamines, many of which are shipped through Thailand and Laos.
Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy crippled since a military coup in February 2021, but synthetic drug production in troubled Shan state was already booming before the putsch.
Deadly shootouts between military patrols and drug smugglers are not uncommon in the hilly jungle areas along Thailand's northern border with Myanmar.
The four were arrested after a security check found eight kilograms of methamphetamine and three kilograms of cocaine and ketamine hidden in toothpaste tubes in their luggage on March 16.
They said they had agreed to carry 60 kg of goods for some acquaintances including the toothpaste tubes for which they were paid VND10 million, but were "too tired" to check them carefully.
They were released after six days after the police determined they indeed had no knowledge about the drugs.
Hundreds of toothpaste tubes that contain drugs are found inside the luggage of four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants flying from France to Vietnam, March 16, 2023. Photo courtesy of HCMC Customs
Hundreds of toothpaste tubes containing drugs were found inside the luggage of four Vietnam Airlines flight attendants flying from France to Vietnam, March 16, 2023. Photo courtesy of HCMC Customs
Nguyen Duc Thai, head of the HCMC People's Procuracy, the prosecutor's office, said at a city meeting on Wednesday said the case was one of many to indicate that drug smuggling through Tan Son Nhat airport is becoming rampant.
Drugs are disguised as gifts, sent by express delivery and carried in hand baggage, he said.
Speaking about crimes in the city, he said the number of criminal cases increased by 23% this year to 9,345.
The number of people under criminal investigation increased by 43% to 9,831.
Crimes related to social order increased by 1,061, drugs by 722 and corruption and abuse of power by 45.
The city has seen the emergence of loan shark rings that approach people in many ways including by distributing leaflets and advertising on social media, and collect debts through physical and mental harassment.
The police have looked into the debt collection methods of 79 branches of pawnshop chain F88, and arrested seven people for "confiscation of property."
The number of cases involving the use of computer networks, telecom and electronic means to appropriate property has also increased.
Thai said the police deem the bribery case at the Vietnam Register Department and motor vehicle registration centers across the city as the most serious this year.
A criminal investigation has been launched against 209 people involved in the case, including officials and registrars for taking bribes from vehicle owners to overlook violations.
Investigations have found similar violations in many cities and provinces across the country.
Dang Viet Ha, director of the Vietnam Register, was arrested in January for allegedly taking bribes from registration centers across the country.
A HCMC court sentenced three men to death Tuesday for smuggling 100 kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine from Cambodia during the pandemic, by disguising them as charity goods.
Of the three, Nguyen Thanh Hung, 31, was found to play the main role as he directly received orders from a man only identified as Jimmy in Cambodia.
Huynh Van Thong, 48, who was active with charity works, worked for Jimmy by transporting the drugs from Cambodia to Vietnam by disguising them in baskets of dried fish and fermented fish to be donated to people locked down or impoverished due to Covid-19 in Vietnam.
Ho Hoang Nam, 31, contributed by using his house in District 12 as the place to store the drugs.
According to the indictment, investigators from HCMC Police discovered the operation led by Hung in mid-2021.
They found that Hung lived in the city and sometimes traveled to the city’s outskirts to receive food baskets from Thong.
Thong then lived in Tay Ninh Province that borders Cambodia and was known as a charity enthusiast. He was active in looking for food donations to support people affected by the raging Covid-19 in HCMC.
With the philanthropist label, he directly transported goods from Cambodia via the border in the Mekong Delta’s Dong Thap Province and put them on cars that traveled to HCMC and could bypass Covid-19 restrictions.
Each of these trips carried 30-40 kg of meth and 16-20 kg of heroin.
Police found the drugs after stopping one of Thong’s cars and raided the ring’s storage in August 2021.
They seized nearly 100 kg of meth, heroin and ecstasy pills.
Hung said he got to know Jimmy in July 2021. He had worked as his drug mule three times and bought drugs from him for resale once.
The first time acting as the drug mule, he did not check the amount of the drugs, but was paid VND100 million and he paid Nam VND10 million. He said he did not receive payment the other times yet.
In August 2021, he bought 5 kg of meth from Jimmy at VND975 million (US$40,160) and resold it for VND1 billion.
