Police claim they have a witness and solid evidence which includes a bank account receiving regular money transfers and a car, to prove Lahu activist Chaiyapoom Pasae, who died in an extra-judicial killing in Chiang Mai last Friday, was an active drug dealer.
Police Region 5 provincial commissioner Poolsap Prasertsak held a two-hour meeting in Chiang Mai to review the case.
Pol Lt Gen Poolsap said a key witness, who is a police spy in the drug trade rackets, attended the meeting and gave useful accounts about Chaiyapoom's background. The witness said Chaiyapoom was a junior drug dealer who was climbing up the ranks in the drug network active in districts outside of downtown Chiang Mai, the commissioner said.
On Jan 24, undercover San Sai police officers in Chiang Mai set up a sting operation to lure Chaiyapoom into selling them 600 speed pills.
- Editorial: Justice for Chaiyapoom
The money for the drug sale had been remitted to Chaiyapoom's account, which can be traced and will be used as evidence, the commissioner said.
Police were moving in to arrest Chaiyaphoom when he realised he had been targetted by police and fled the scene, Pol Lt Gen Poolsap said.
He said Chaiyapoom had also lied that he was 17 when in fact his stateless person's ID card confirms he was 21.
Large sums of money were also transferred to his bank account every week and he bought a car with cash but did not register it in his name. However, he took in the vehicle for its annual licence renewal himself.
The car was registered to a female drug suspect named Saengla, who remains at large.
Pol Lt Gen Poolsap said in the days before he was killed, Chaiyapoom threw a lavish party and splurged money on his friends.
"My question is how can a person who is young and jobless afford that kind of lifestyle?" the commissioner said.
He urged the public and social media critics to be fair to police and wait for the investigation to conclude before passing judgement. He said arrest warrants in the drug case related to Chaiyapoom were being issued.
Chaiyapoom, who was president of the Northern Traditional Plant Preservation Network, was shot dead by a soldier at a checkpoint in tambon Muang Na in Chiang Dao district as he allegedly tried to attack him with a hand grenade.
According to police, soldiers found 2,800 methamphetamine pills hidden in a car bearing a Chiang Mai licence plate in which Chaiyapoom and his friend, Mr Pongnai had been travelling.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has agreed to probe the killing of Chaiyapoom, National Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit revealed Wednesday.
The NHRC will work closely with police, she said. Ms Angkhana said the killing has undermined public confidence in judicial procedures, especially as they concern treatment of ethnic minorities.