Bangkok car case ends with seizure of 1.5 million meth pills
Patrol police seized 15 million methamphetamine pills after a dramatic car chase early Monday that ended with the van being chased falling into a canal. It is understood that the driver escaped.
Pol Col Somboon Thiankhao, commander of the Patrol and Special Operation Sub-Division 3, said the incident started when a patrol team spotted a suspicious van at a traffic red light on the outbound Phetkasem Road in Bangkok's Bang Kae district at 1.45 am.
Somboon said the police car driven by Pol Sen Sgt Maj Boonma Chooprit pulled up alongside the van to check but the vehicle sped off, turning into Buddha Monthon 2 Road.
Boonma chased after the van with siren and lights while his partner Pol Col Wasan Suknil called through the loudspeaker for the van to stop, an instruction that was ignored. The driver of the vehicle started to zig zag to prevent the patrol car from overtaking it, Somboon added.
He said the van then made a turn into Soi 7 off the Buddha Monthon 2 Road and headed to Wat Boonyapradit and drove around the temple.
Finally, the van turned into Soi Wat Boonyapradit, a dead-end soi, and plunged into the small canal at the end of the road. The van driver swam across the canal and disappeared.
Somboon said the 1.5 million meth pills were packed in seven bags inside the van.