Bangkok police killed a suspected drug dealer over the weekend in a violent shoot out that ensued after a high speed car chase and a taxi hijacking scenario.
The suspect was identified as 26-year-old Asawin Pakditalep of Permsap housing estate on Bang Khae Soi 16. He was masquerading as a charity organization worker and allegedly using the foundation’s vehicle to distribute drugs.
Police recovered a .38 pistol next to his body and 2 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in his abandoned vehicle.
Prior to the shoot out, the suspect engaged police operatives in a high-speed car chase that began at the Bang Phli-Suksawat expressway toll gate on Rama II Road. Agents spotted the suspect driving a pickup truck belonging to the Ruam Katanyu Foundation. Police tried to slow down the suspect by firing at the vehicle’s tires but he refused to slow down. Police chased the pickup truck to Kanchanaphisek Ring Road, but the suspect abandoned the vehicle under a flyover bridge across Bang Pruek intersection.
The suspect and police were engaged in a shootout as the former was fleeing towards his apartment at Permsap housing estate on Bang Khae Soi 16. Police then sealed off the area and searched all vehicles leaving the housing estate. The suspect, however, managed to hijack a green taxi in an attempt to escape.
According to Pol Maj Gen Surapol Tuanthong, deputy chief of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, the suspect sustained more than 10 gunshot wounds. He said police will search the suspect’s apartment for stronger leads on his drug ties.
For his part, Suchart Supawan, of the Ruam Katanyu Foundation admitted that the suspect had indeed worked for the foundation. However, he said that the suspect had been suspended from work for a year and the foundation no longer had any contact with him, the Bangkok Post reported.
