BANGKOK POST 15TH JUNE 1999

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BANGKOK POST 15TH JUNE 1999

Karens slain in
drugs raid

Wassayos Ngamkham

Three suspected Karen amphetamine dealers were shot dead in a
clash in which a policeman was seriously wounded in Sutthisan
yesterday.

                              The clash came after police
                              arrested two Burmese,
                              identified only as Thai, 20, and
                              Peng, 22, who had sold 200 pills
                              to a plainclothes officer.

                              During questioning, the two
                              pointed out to police a room at
                              Rienthong Apartment in Soi
                              Intamara 28.

                              When the police ordered the
                              occupants of the room to
surrender, a man and a woman burst out, fired shots at them and fled in
a taxi.

Others in the room started shooting, hitting Pol Sgt Maj Somboon
Kad-udom in the shoulder and arm. He was listed as critical at the
Police Hospital.

The suspects locked themselves in the room but the police used a
hammer to force entry and another round of shooting erupted.

After the firing ended, police found three dead bodies in the room. They
were identified as Saw Win Piang and Saw La Ong, both 25, and an
unidentified man, also a Karen. They also found handguns, 200
amphetamine pills, two wooden crates and photographs of the three in
Karen military uniform.