Four youths have been arrested for brandishing a gun at police in the northern Shan State town of Lashio.

Shan State police’s Vice-commander Aung Myat Moe said law enforcement officers were on patrol in Lashio on Sunday when they spotted a suspicious-looking van near the Humon reservoir.

“It was a Vigo SUV, and the officers signalled for it to stop,” he said. “It refused to stop and tried to drive away, so the police set up a roadblock ahead. When they were forced to a halt, the young men came out of the vehicle brandishing a gun. So we had to use force to apprehend them.”

He said the four youths – all residents of Lashio – were detained and will be charged with possession of an illegal weapon.

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The police colonel said the officers also found drug paraphernalia in the vicinity, assumed to have been thrown out of the SUV in an attempt to hide evidence.

One of the youths was identified as the son of a local militia official, but Aung Myat Moe said the firearm seized from the young men did not belong to his father.

He went on to explain that local militia members are also not allowed to carry their weapons within the town.