Five Khao San police officers transferred after drug raid at pub

Five officers at Chana Songkhram police station have been abruptly transferred to the operations centre of Metropolitan Police Division 1 pending an investigation into their alleged failure to suppress illegal drug trafficking in their jurisdiction.

The transfers, involving five officers including a superintendent, followed a raid at 3am today by officials from the Provincial Administration Department on a pub on Khao San Road.

Several patrons were arrested after testing positive for drug use, and a large quantity of illegal drugs was confiscated.

Reports said officers from Chana Songkhram police station had visited the same pub at about 1am but found nothing illegal and left the premises.

Police Lt-General Sayam Boonsom, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, signed the transfer order and also ordered the formation of a fact-finding panel to investigate the case, particularly why the officers who had visited the pub earlier reported finding nothing illegal.

The panel will determine whether the officers deliberately filed a false report.