The police are to seek an arrest warrant for a female colonel, in connection with the theft of prescription drugs from the Veterans General Hospital in Bangkok.
Pol Maj-Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said that police have sufficient evidence to support an arrest warrant against the unnamed military officer.
According to police investigators, a number of officials working at the hospital in Lop Buri are suspected of involvement in the prolonged theft of medication for sale to outsiders, particularly imported medicines not covered by the National List of Essential Medicines.
Charoonkiat said some of the suspects are yet to report to the police to acknowledge the charges, as he advised them to do so quickly before the issuance of arrest warrants.
The CIB deputy commissioner was in Lop Buri on Thursday to question about 30 patients, who were allegedly encouraged by the scammers to ask for more drugs than they needed to treat their non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes or high blood sugar levels, so that the surplus medication could be sold for a profit.
Thailand’s government officials, and their immediate families, are entitled to free medical benefits from state hospitals for life.
