DRUG SUPPRESSION: CRACK UNITS DEPLOYED AT BORDER

Platoons To Provide Rapid-Response Option

The Third Army has established at least five crack military units at points
along the Burmese border in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces to support
anti-drug operations of the Pha Muang Task Force, Lt-Gen Udomchai
Ongkhasing, Third Army commander, said yesterday.

The 18-strong units would replace or support the task force on occasions
when a rapid response was required, he added.

Such crack units were put into action for the first time last Saturday,
when a drug caravan was intercepted in Wiang Haeng district of Chiang Mai.

A total of 1.6 million methamphetamine pills were seized and 13 suspected
traffickers were killed. One Thai soldier also died in the gunbattle.

The army's two newly-acquired Black Hawk helicopters would be used to ferry
the task force to target areas around the clock.

Meanwhile, army chief Gen Surayud Chalanont has ordered the Chiang
Mai-based 2nd Special Warfare Regiment to deploy 12-member units to gather
intelligence and conduct anti-drug operations at hilltribe villages along
the border, according to a source.

These units would work in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai and Chiang Dao districts, and
Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district.

The army has also deployed Powder, an 11-month-old Golden Retriever sniffer
dog, to villages in Mae Fa Luang district to help search for drug stockpiles.

A suspected Red Wa drug trafficker was shot dead in a gunfight with police
in Pang Ma Pha district of Mae Hong Son early yesterday.

Two Thais suspected of dealing in drugs were also arrested.

One of the men started shooting as provincial anti-drug officers and local
police raided a house in tambon Sobpong about 1am.

Maung Win, 30, was killed while Srisawat Paokham, 33, and district military
volunteer Opas Wilaikhunnatham, 34, were arrested with 8,500 speed pills
and two motorcycles.

The suspects said they bought the methamphetamines from Maung Win and sold
them to Thai workers and farmers in the area.

Police said Maung Win was a member of a Red Wa drug gang based near Ban Mai
Lan border crossing in Pang Ma Pha district.