At 3.15 p.m. on Saturday at a parking lot of a hotel along Thepkrasattri Rd in Rassada, Phuket drug suppression officers arrested Songwut "Dock" Bualek, 26, of Muang Phitsanulok and Komonphetara "Dar" Phetglai of Krabi's Klongtom district.
A background check revealed that Dock was wanted for attempted murder in his home province after fleeing the scene of a fatal shootout with police in October 2014.
Leading up to the arrest on Saturday, police staged a drug purchase from Dock through a woman they had arrested on drug charges on July 14.
According to the police report, the woman, named only as Kansini "Yui", was arrested in Chalong with 50 grams of crystal meth or "ya ice", which she had allegedly bought from Dock for B69,000.
Yui then cooperated with police to stage a purchase of 100 more grammes of the Category 1 drug for the price of B160,000, which Dock agreed to deliver, instructing her to check in to a hotel where the deal would go down.
Yui did as instructed and an appointment was set for Saturday afternoon, when Dock arrived to the hotel in a red-plated Toyota saloon car.
Upon positively identifying the suspect police engaged the man, identified themselves and proceeded to search the man's smartphone, confirming that he had spoken to their informant.
A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered the drugs and a loaded pistol with magazine clip and holster.
In the passenger-side car door, police found more than 200 grams of ya ice, along with 30 heart-shaped pills of ecstasy, which were concealed inside plastic sealable bags and wrapped in paper.
In the driver-side car door police found the 9mm pistol, a Smith and Wesson make, loaded with 10 live rounds in a magazine chamber, long with an accompanying holster.
Police noted that it appeared that someone had tried to deface the original serial number of the weapon, but they managed to positively trace the number nonethless.
Police seized the drugs, gun and holster, along with an Apple iPhone S6 and the vehicle as items used in a crime.
Both suspects were arrested and charged with possession of Category 1 drugs (ya ice and ecstasy) with intent to sell without permission; possession of a firearm without permission; and bringing a firearm into a town or city without valid reason or permission.
Although Dar refuted all charges, Dock accepted them, revealing that the drugs were purchased at a price of B130,000, indirectly through a dealer he named as "Ed", who was said to be based at a prison in Nakhon Phatom province.
According to the claim, the drugs were picked up by Dar at an undisclosed site along Rama 2 Road in Bangkok, before the two suspects continued on the road to deliver them in Phuket.
Despite the tip, police said they were unable to expand the investigation any further and booked both of the suspects for prosecution.
According to the initial warrant, in the early hours of October 8, 2014 Dock had fled the scene of a shootout with police at a crowded restaurant, after unsuccessfully attempting to gun down officers who had fatally shot his alleged partner in crime in the incident, named as Burin Tabchai.
It is understood that the two suspects were being pursued by police for drug related crimes.
Phuket police are now coordinating with their counterparts in Phitsanulok to transfer Dock so he can face his initial charges.