KHON KAEN - Police arrested one of their own colleagues on Friday with illicit drugs seized during his campaign against narcotics.
Sunthorn Prasertsawat, a patrol officer with the Chum Phae district station, was caught with 1,096 methamphetamine pills and four grammes of crystal methamphetamine while he was planning to sell them.
Police were tipped off that the officer had arranged a meeting to sell the drugs near the Cheewin Palace Hotel in Chum Phae, and made the arrest when the man arrived in his car, said Pol Col Jeerawat Kongkraphun, chief of the district station.
Police were alerted after local residents complained to them that Pol Sen Sgt Maj Sunthorn had extorted illegal drugs, money and possessions from the people he arrested.
The policeman recently stopped following standard procedure of sending in seized drugs to the station, Pol Col Jeerawat added.
"Pol Sen Sgt Maj Sunthorn was well known by his colleagues in Chum Phae as an officer responsible for drug cases in the area. But his behaviour changed and we kept an eye on him leading to this arrest," the superintendent said.
Pol Sen Sgt Maj Sunthorn confessed that the drugs in his possession were all from local arrests. He planned to sell them to teenagers to pay off his debts.
Police have charged him with possession of illicit drugs with the intent to distribute. The case has been forwarded to the Khon Kaen provincial police to consider whether the officer will be fired.