Suspect makes airport escape

Interpol loses German man at Suvarnabhumi

A suspected German leader of a gang of thieves in Australia escaped Interpol officers while waiting for a connecting flight to Germany at Suvarnabhumi airport, authorities confirmed yesterday.

Immigration police and the Airports of Thailand (AoT) will meet today to discuss the investigation into the suspect’s escape, which took place on May 15.

The suspect, whose identity has been withheld, was arrested and charged in Australia, but managed to escape while being taken back to Germany.

Thai immigration police promptly conducted a manhunt for the suspect but have been unable to find him.

Pol Maj Gen Preecha Thimamontree, deputy commander of the Immigration Bureau, said the Australian embassy in Bangkok contacted the bureau only after the suspect had escaped from the Australian police escorting him.

The escape took place in the transit area which was not under the bureau’s jurisdiction, he said.

After being alerted by the embassy, immigration police began searching for the suspect and inspected security camera footage.

The bureau also checked entry records of arriving passengers but they found no information that the suspect had left the airport through the normal immigration channels.

Pol Maj Gen Preecha, however, said there still were several other channels the suspect might have used to slip out of the airport.

Immigration Bureau’s Division 2 chief Pol Maj Gen Suwichpol Imjairach said the suspect arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport with Interpol officers on a Thai Airways flight without the immigration police’s knowledge.

‘‘Usually, the immigration police must be informed if any foreign suspect is brought into the country but I have no idea why this case is different,’’ he said.

‘‘All the bureau can say now is that suspect is not in the airport,’’ Pol Maj Gen Suwichpol said.

‘‘But it remains a mystery where he is now and how he managed to get out of the airport.’’

The AoT has refused to accept responsibility for the man’s escape.

The agency said a probe was being conducted to find out who is to blame for the embarrassment.

AoT acting president Pongsak Semson said the AoT and other authorities are trying to find out how the escape happened.

Suvarnabhumi airport director Rawewan Netrakavesna said immigration police would question all AoT staff on duty on the day the suspect disappeared.

Ms Rawewan said the AoT did not know what took place and needed more time to talk to everyone involved. ‘‘The AoT was not notified by the police who were escorting the suspect,’’ she said.

An AoT source said the escape had damaged its reputation and prompted it to step up measures to prevent other such incidents.