LAMPANG - Police were on Monday hunting a rogue cop who took a civilian hostage and then fled into the forest following a car chase after he drove through a roadblock on Sunday night.
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Police found 2.48 million methamphetamine pills, or yaba, and five kilogrammes of crystal amphetamines, or ya ice, in his abandoned vehicle.
The drugs have an estimated street value of 760 million baht.
The wanted man was identified as Pol Sgt Manas Suapho, 42, of the Bangkok Metropolitan Traffic Police.
Pol Sgt Manas was signalled to stop at a checkpoint on the Lampang-Phayao road, but fled, according to police.
Police fired at the fugitive, who fired back at them they said. They were able to stop his vehicle, which left the road and hit a house. After the accident, the suspect held a civilian at gun point and escaped, police said.
Police found the drugs in his abandoned vehicle.
Another suspect, in another car, was taken into police custody.
Police had deployed armed squads, including police dogs and a helicopter, to hunt down Pol Sgt Manas. He was believed to be hiding in a forest in the area.
On Oct 12, police seized more than over 1.7 million speed pills at a house in Samut Sakhon's Krathum Baen district and arrested four drug suspects.
The drugs have an estimated street value of 500 million baht.
On Oct 19, a man was arrested in possession of 54,000 speed pills and two kilogrammes of crystal meth worth over 30 million baht in Surat Thani's Muang district.