Drug suspect's wife flees with cash: police

Narcotics Suppression Bureau commander Pol Maj-General Thanai Apichartseni said that after the shooting, which also wounded suspect Pichet Phumdokmai, police raided Warissanon’s home in Pathum Thani’s Lam Luk Ka district and found 50,000 yaba tablets. Then on Wednesday, police raided the man’s five rented flats in the same district and seized more evidence, including some 137,000 yaba tablets, 650 grams of “ice”, four guns, 600 rounds of ammunition and a bullet-proof vest. 

Police investigators also found Bt2.3 million in cash left in one of the rooms, and concluded that Warissanon’s wife Sakulrat Suwansukkho, 32, had fled with the rest of the cash, Thanai said. The building’s security camera footage showed Sakulrat and two other women leaving the premises with three suitcases and three backpacks. 

Pol General Pongsapat Pong-charoen, who is secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said investigators had also discovered implements used to change imported yaba into Warissanon’s recipe and repackaged with a “seahorse” stamp. Pongsapat is calling on Sakulrat to surrender and be with her four-month-old son, who was found near Warissanon’s body. A manhunt is on for the rest of the gang. 

Separately, police presented results of a Thai-Dutch police collaboration that led to the seizure of some 10 tonnes of Safrole oil on Monday and the arrest of five male suspects – three Thais, one from Myanmar and a Chinese. The oil can be used to produce 86 million ecstasy pills worth Bt80 billion.