UDON THANI: A 60-year-old British man was killed when his car rear-ended a trailer truck as he fled from a police search in Muang district late on Thursday night.
Several plastic bags containing a variety of illegal drugs were found in his possession.
Before the fatal crash, a patrol police unit had spotted a Honda car parked along a local road at Ban Nong Sai village in tambon Nong Nakham around 9pm on Thursday. The door on the driver’s side was open.
When police started walking over to make inquiries the driver, a foreigner, began acting suspiciously. He quickly closed the door and drove off along the Udon Thani-Sakon Nakhon road, said Pol Lt Col Pattanawong Chanphon, deputy superintendent for crime suppression at Muang police station.
Suspicions aroused, the officers radioed in details, putting out a general alert. The car was seen entering Sukkasem housing estate. It was driven around the area before leaving along Nittayo Road, where it soon after crashed into the rear of an 18-wheel trailer truck at Ban Nong Kae village in tambon Nong Nakham, Muang district.
The driver was seriously injured. An emergency medical unit rushed him to Udon Thani Hospital, where he died shortly after.
Pol Lt Col Pattanawong said police were informed by the hospital’s emergency unit that the victim’s bag had also been found inside the wreckage and it contained many types of illicit drugs.
An examination found four plastic bags of dried marijuana, 80 methamphetamine pills, 5 small bags of crystal methamphetamine and 7 small bags of cocaine.
He was also carrying a plastic identity card written in Thai.
Police then went to the rented room at Tontan resort in tambon Samphrao where he stayed.
A 47-year-old Thai woman from Bangkok was in the room. She told police she was Sewell’s wife. The couple had lived together for two years.
A search uncovered two more plastic bags containing marijuana. The woman denied any knowledge of the drugs, Pol Lt Col Pattanawong said.
She told police her husband often went out to meet foreign friends at a restaurant in the downtown area. Before the fatal crash, he had told her he was going to meet his friends as usual.
Police suspect he was selling drugs to expatriates with Thai families living in this northeastern province.
Police inspect the dead British driver's bag, found to hold many plastic bags of illicit drugs. (Photo by Yuttapong Kamnodnae)
Marijuana, methamphetamne, cocaine and crystal metth found in the bag. (Photo by Yuttapong Kamnodnae)