BANGKOK (XINHUA) - A record haul of more than 6 million methamphetamine tablets were seized on Tuesday (Dec 17) in northern Thailand, police said.

Army rangers from Pha Muang Task Force seized some 4.99 million methamphetamine tablets, also known as speed pills, from a pickup truck on a road in the Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai province after the unidentified truck driver managed to escape on Monday night, leaving behind the drugs contained in huge bags.

In another development, some 1.5 million speed pills were separately seized by army rangers from a group of drug trafficking suspects in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province following a five-minute exchange of gunfire near a village.

The suspected drug traffickers managed to escape into the woods at night, leaving behind the speed pills in backpacks.