Cops transferred over wrongful arrest of car driver

Cops transferred over wrongful arrest of car driver

The  sachet of
The sachet of "white powder" was found inside a car that was stopped by police on the night of Jan 7. The driver was arrested and accused of possession of ketamine. It turned out that it was camphor, or karaboon as translated in Thai. (Capture from TV Channel 3).

Four policemen have been transferred to inactive posts after a young driver was arrested and handcuffed for alleged possession of ketamine - in reality a sachet of camphor his mother put there to deodorise the car.

News of the bungle sparked heavy criticism of the police on social media.

Pol Maj Gen Chumphon Phumphuang, chief of Samut Prakan police, quickly ordered the transfer of the two commissioned and two non-commissioned officers to the provincial police operations centre pending further inquiry.

A woman complained to the media that her younger brother was wrongly arrested for alleged possession of ketamine on Jan 7.

Her brother was on the way to Pak Nam when his car was stopped for a search by police at a checkpoint near Soi Sukhumvit 109 in tambon Samrong Nua of Muang district, Samut Prakan around 11pm, she said.

The officers found a sachet of "white powder" in the front glove compartment. He was quickly detained and handcuffed for alleged possession of ketamine. The man insisted he never used illicit drugs, but they did not believe him.

He then contacted his family by phone and told them he had been arrested on a drug charge. His mother and his elder sister soon arrived at the scene.

The truth emerged when his mother saw the sachet of white powder the arresting team claimed was ketamine. She told them it was camphor that she bought from a shop and put inside the car to eliminate bad odour, and also used to treat a headache.

Pol Col Arthit Simcharoen, chief of Samrong Nua police, on Wednesday confirmed the incident occurred on the night of Jan 7.  A team of crime suppression police had set up a checkpoint near Soi Sukhumvit 109 and saw a car holding back from entering the checkpoint.

He said they walked up to the vehicle, asked to search it and found the small bag of white powder. They seized it for examination, but the man acted nervously and phoned his relatives, saying police accused him of possessing an illicit drug, Thai PBS Online reported.

The motorist was taken for a urine drug test, which police said was positive. However, a later second test was negative, Thai media reported.

Police admitted to mistakes with the urine tests and the seizure of the powder.

Thai media reported that Pol Col Arthit signed an order that police volunteers should stop assisting with these tasks after the incident. 

It was reported that police volunteers had also been involved in the arrest of the motorist and search of his car, with allegations he was also slapped around.

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