BANGKOK, Oct 3 — After capturing a major Southeast Asian drug smuggler and confiscating 36 kilos of compressed heroin — Thailand’s largest drug haul in five years — the country’s police lost their prize detainee at the scene of the crime Saturday and now must deal with a significant loss of face as well as the suspect.

Thailand has set up a top level investigation committee to probe how the key drug smuggler was able to escape after being apprehended and taken into custody earlier, Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga said Sunday.

Mr Pirapan told a press conference that police are hunting for 41-year-old Prida Takulprida who escaped while police were searching his house in the northern province of Chiang Mai’s Fang district on Saturday.

MCOT