A team of undercover Thai police officers caught a drug dealer by dressing in sequins, feathers and lipstick and posing as a glitzy dance troupe at a street festival — with a triumphant photograph of the operation going viral after being posted to Facebook.
Five male officers and one female colleague slipped into tight-fitting glamour outfits for the covert operation at a street dance festival in Tha Luang, Thailand. Their target, Mekha Fa-wap-wap, never suspected the heavily made-up performers sashaying around him were preparing to strike. When they did, officers arrested him and found he was carrying more than 53 methamphetamine pills, 200 plastic bags used for storing and selling drugs and a mobile phone used to run an illegal gambling operation. He was charged with possession of category one narcotics and operating an unlicensed slot machine.
After the arrest, the team posted a group photograph to Facebook showing the officers in their full drag regalia surrounding their suspect — with several of the burly policemen visibly struggling to contain their grins. The image spread rapidly online, drawing widespread admiration for the ingenuity of the operation.
It is far from the first time Thai police have deployed imaginative disguises to ensnare suspects. In February, officers hid inside dragon costumes during Bangkok’s Lunar New Year festivities to catch a thief suspected of stealing Buddhist artefacts. Dramatic footage from that operation showed an officer bursting from the head of a dragon costume and tackling the 33-year-old suspect to the ground. The man was accused of breaking into a senior police officer’s home and stealing two 12-inch Buddha statues along with other valuables worth approximately £47,500.
Thai police have also been engaged in a broader crackdown on vice in the country’s notorious red light districts. The Sun has reported from inside officers’ efforts to clean up Pattaya — described by some as a “porno Disneyland” — where authorities face the considerable challenge of shutting down a dense network of brothels, go-go bars and massage parlours operating in plain sight.
