Pol Lt Col Sopon Borirak of Karon Police explained that Jinda “Dada” Noypanich, 33, from Krabi, was one of six people rounded up at various points around Karon on Monday for possession of drugs.
Dada, who has a large dragon tattoo on her right upper arm, was carrying 4.22 grams of crystal methamphetamine (ya ice), enough, in the eyes of the law, to qualify her as a drug dealer.
She was booked, photographed and fingerprinted, and even took part in a reconstruction of her arrest, for the record.
But police had a problem: Karon Police Station has just one holding cell, and that already contained the five others, all men, who were arrested along with Dada in the police sweep.
They could not put her in the cell with the men – that would be strictly against the rules – so they decided instead to lock her up in the paddy wagon, parked in the car park below the station.
The next morning, Dada was gone. Just how she escaped is a mystery – police are silent on that point.
Meanwhile the five men, ranging in age from 23 to 32, are still in custody. A total of 5.81 grams of ya ice were seized from them, along with 55 methamphetamine pills.