This is the dramatic moment police chased suspected smugglers delivering 1.6 million meth pills in Thailand

Dashcam footage shows officers intercepting a grey Toyota sedan on a highway in Kalasin province, on September 8.

Two men, Theeraphong, 21, and Sitthiphong, 26, were arrested while a staggering 1.6 million methamphetamine pills were found hidden in the back seat and trunk.

Police Colonel Kanit Klinsrisuk, deputy commander of Border Patrol Police Region 2, said the bust was linked to an earlier operation on September 1 where 1.7 million meth pills were seized from four other suspects.

He said: ‘We found that these drugs were smuggled from the neighbouring country at Wan Yai district in Mukdahan for delivery to a customer in Khon Kaen.

‘Both suspects admitted to being hired for 50,000 baht each for the delivery, with a 1,000 baht fee for petrol expenses, before we intercepted them in the Yang Talat district of Kalasin.'

Investigators also learned that Theeraphong had previously been sentenced to nine months in prison for possession of 63 methamphetamine pills before being released in August.

Border Patrol Police Region 2 said both suspects will face legal action, adding they will expand the investigation to identify those behind the trafficking network.

Meth is classified as a category 1 substance in Thailand.

Under Thai law, using category 1 substances may be punished with up to three years in jail and a fine of up to 60,000 baht, while possession carries a fine of up to 200,000 baht and up to 10 years imprisonment.

Those convicted of dealing may face life imprisonment and a five million baht fine, depending on the amount involved. Producers, importers, and exporters of Category 1 substances face the same charges and may face the death penalty if it is proven their intent was to sell or distribute on a large scale.

Thailand's northern border sits along the Golden Triangle, where most of Southeast Asia's meth supply comes from.

The region is found where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet but it has long been a feral nest of criminal activity, including opium production, meth labs and call centre scam bases.

At the heart of the Golden Triangle lies the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), run by notorious Chinese business tycoon and suspected crime boss Zhao Wei in the Chinese vassal state Laos. Communist chiefs are said to turn a Nelsonian eye to his wrongdoing.

In 2007, Zhao brokered a deal with the Laos government and obtained a 99-year lease to build the zone on a 39-square mile patch of impoverished Bokeo province.

The Chinese businessman claims to be a benefactor as he touts the GTSEZ as a tourist and economic hub designed to bring more income and investments into the country. However, both local and international law enforcement agencies believe it is a front for organised crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, and call-centre scams.

International authorities have struggled to take down the gambling empire as the Laos government itself is said to be protecting the GTSEZ, in which it has a 20 per cent stake.