– Chonburi narcotics officers set a buy-bust at a South Pattaya gas station late on October 13th. The target, Ratchata, 41, spotted them, reversed into the station office, and sped off.
– Police ordered him to stop, blocked the road, and fired at his tires. He broke through the cordon and drove recklessly on Sukhumvit before stopping about 6 kilometres away with flat tires.
– Officers found about 20 grams of crystal methamphetamine in a cigarette pack beside the gear lever of his white Isuzu D-Max. He admitted it was his.
– No bystanders were injured. The gas station office was damaged. He was taken for questioning about his possible drug network connections before being handed to Pattaya City Police.
Pattaya: A suspected meth dealer rammed a gas station office, broke through a police roadblock, and led Pattaya police on a short high speed chase along Sukhumvit Road late Tuesday night before officers stopped him by shooting out his tires and then seized about 20 grams of crystal methamphetamine.
Pol. Maj. Sorasak Pinthong and Pol. Maj. Prasit Boonprasit of the Chonburi provincial investigation division led the narcotics team. Acting on a tip that a drug dealer was supplying young people in the province, they arranged a controlled buy at a gas station on South Pattaya Road. At about 11:36 p.m. on October 13, as the white Isuzu D-Max was refueling, an informant signaled that it was the target vehicle. When officers moved in, the driver, later identified as Ratchata, 41, saw them, accelerated in reverse, and crashed into the station office, damaging it.
Police ordered him to stop and used vehicles to block escape routes. He continued regardless. Officers fired at the tires. He broke through the cordon and drove erratically onto Sukhumvit Road past the North Pattaya traffic lights, heading toward Bangkok, nearly colliding with other traffic. About 6 kilometres from the station the pickup, with damaged tires reduced to rims and further damage from the collision, could go no farther. Officers detained him amid bystanders.
Inside the cab they found a cigarette pack beside the gear lever containing roughly 20 grams of Category 1 methamphetamine, known as ice. Ratchata told officers the drugs were his and that he fled because he was afraid of being arrested. A station attendant said he was refueling the pickup when officers surrounded it; the driver reversed into the office, police shot the tires, and the man drove off. The attendant said no members of the public were in the station at the time and that staff were moved to safety.
Pol. Lt. Col. Chinawat Thisala, an investigation inspector at the Dong Tan sub-station of Pattaya City Police, examined the scene and reviewed CCTV. The narcotics team took Ratchata for further questioning about associates before handing him and the drugs to Pattaya City Police investigators.
Crystal methamphetamine is a Category 1 narcotic. Possession for sale carries a heavy prison term. Twenty grams is a street-level quantity, not a bulk seizure, but enough for multiple sales. Police said they are expanding the case. Tire-shooting stops have been used in other recent Pattaya-area pursuits. On the night of October 3rd, Banglamung officers fired at the tires of a sedan whose driver fled a search near a school and temple; the car traveled more than 10 kilometres before a tire failed, and officers later reported finding ice, yaba, and a handgun. Stray rounds hit a school wall; no one was hurt.