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CHIANG RAI - Eight drug traffickers were killed in a border shootout with soldiers and police early Monday morning, the 3rd Army Pha Muang Task Force commander, Somsak Nilbanjerdkul, said.

Maj Gen Somsak said his force received a report that a group of armed men were smuggling illegal drugs from a "neighbouring country" into the northern border province.

A team of more than 50 soldiers and police was assembled to patrol the forest areas in tambon Wiang Phang Kham in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district, he said.

At about 5.30am, the team spotted about a dozen people, all carrying weapons, walking in line through the forest.

They surrounded them, but they refused to be searched and a fight then broke out. The shooting lasted about 15 minutes.

The team waited until daylight to search the scene, fearing they might be attacked if they moved forward in the dark.

At about 8.30am police reinforcements, led by national police chief Priewpan Damapong, arrived to inspect the area.

They found eight bodies and nine bags containing 550,000 methamphetamine pills, or yaba, and 70 kilogrammes of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, worth more than 500 million baht in total. The crystal meth was hidden in teabags.

They also found three AKA rifles, one 9mm handgun and a .22 pistol.

Trails of blood were also discovered at the scene, leading to the neighbouring country.

The security forces suffered no casualties, Maj Gen Somsak said.