Police on the prowl for heroin suspect who escaped from Kanchanaburi station

Police are on the prowl for a runaway heroin suspect who escaped from a station in Kanchanaburi province. The suspect, 20 year old Saksit ‘Phet’ Nongkum, escaped from Phanom Thuan police station on Saturday, Thai media reported.

Phet escaped after he was taken out of his cell for further questioning. He asked to get a drink of water in front of the interrogation room. Despite being handcuffed, he managed to run away towards the back of the building, leaving a pair of slippers behind.

A team of over 60 police officers searched for Phet but were unsuccessful in finding him.

Phet faces charges of possessing a type 1 drug (heroin) for sale.

Police are continuing to hunt for the criminal. A team of officers has searched six houses in Bo Phloi and Phanom Thuan districts, where Phet’s parents and close relatives live.

Officers have also let dogs smell Phet’s slippers so that they can remember the smell and hopefully track him down.

Thailand struggles to control its drug problems. Even though Yaba is Thailand’s most common cheapest drug, there have been a few heroin busts this year.

In October, customs officials at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport snatched over 7 kilograms of heroin they said was bound for Taiwan.

The big bust came when officials smelled something fishy around four cases of dried durian originating from Cambodia along with a water heater. The strange combination of goods was heading for an address in Taiwan.

In August, the Customs Office of Hong Kong proved it packs a punch when it seized 20 million baht of heroin hidden in kickboxing pads imported from Thailand and arrested a 40 year old man in the process. The government of Hong Kong reported that 5 kilograms of heroin, worth about 20 million baht, were seized at Chek Lap Kok International Airport on Saturday, August 6.

Hopefully, police will catch the latest heroin suspect, Phet, soon.