Bangkok police shot to death a suspected drug trafficker and arrested two more with the help of a SWAT team helicopter after a dramatic chase in Don Mueang last night.
Plainclothes police were preparing to ambush the trio at the spot of a suspected methamphetamine deal in Pathum Thani’s Khlong Luang district, but the drug dealers caught wind of the trap and sped away in a pick-up truck. Police gave chase to the gangsters who took a southbound lane of Vibhavadi Rangsit Road towards Don Mueang.
According to police, the suspects then pulled into the oncoming lane of traffic to try to exit towards the Royal Thai Air Force Headquarters, but police closed in on them and a gunfight broke out. One of the gang threw a grenade and shot at the officers, the police said. Police shot and killed one of the suspects, later identified as Lao national Phol Chaiyaphantho.
The two other suspected drug dealers escaped into vegetation nearby. After a three hour search involving 50 SWAT team police and a helicopter, one of the suspects identified as Chokchai Tuamak, 24, surrendered. The third suspect, identified only as Mum, surrendered later that night, the Bangkok Post reported.
Police said that they found 200,000 ya ba pills in the pick-up truck and seized an AK assault rifle and three grenades from Chokchai, who said that he was paid THB10,000 to deliver the drugs from Pattaya to Pathum Thani.
