Police colonel sought in shakedown scandal

BANGKOK — Thai authorities arrested a fifth police officer in connection with the death of a drug dealer who was allegedly killed while being shaken down in custody for cash, but were still searching Thursday for two others, including the suspected ringleader, a police colonel accused of funding a lavish lifestyle through corruption.

A police sergeant from the Muang district station, in a province north of Bangkok, was apprehended late Wednesday. All five suspects in custody, including a major and a captain, were brought Thursday before a judge who ordered them held without bail on charges of dereliction of duty, torture and murder.

Authorities are still searching for a police lieutenant as well as Col. Thitisan Utthanaphon, who was chief of the station in Nakhon Sawan province and disappeared shortly before a video surfaced on social media that appears to show him directing the assault on the suspect that lead to the 24-yearold’s death.

The colonel, who earned the nickname “Jo Ferrari” due to his penchant for sports cars, had a collection of 29 luxury automobiles worth more than $3 million, some of which he kept at a home in Bangkok worth about $1.8 million, Thai media reported.

One of the cars found at the house, a yellow Lamborghini, was purchased by Thitisan from a car company that was involved in a tax evasion investigation two years ago, the police Department

of Special Investigation said. Thitisan was not charged in that case.

In their search for him and Lt. Thoranin Matwanna, Thai police have asked neighboring countries to be on the lookout in case they have already managed to get across the border.

Allegations of police brutality and corruption are not uncommon in Thailand, and Human Rights Watch called Thursday for a transparent, outside investigation.