An alleged drug dealer who escaped police by crawling into a muddy drain then needed their help - after getting stuck for 24 hours. <br /><br />Sopha Ardjalee, 46, was stopped by the patrolling officer while riding a motorcycle without a license plate in Samut Prakan, central Thailand on Sunday (June 30).<br /><br />Two officers asked to search him but the suspicious-looking driver refused to cooperate and attempted to escape. <br /><br />Mobile phone footage shows how Sopha bit their hands as they tried to handcuff him to a bridge barrier. The suspect then stumbled and fell into the dirty canal, with his pants coming off.<br /><br />He then scurried deep into the drainage system - but needed the police to save him the next day after getting stuck and crying for help. <br /><br />Footage from yesterday (July 1) around 10.30am shows volunteers tried to locate him before removing the concrete pit, which was 300 metres away from where he fell.<br /><br />He eventually emerged covered in sewage and told police he was thankful to them for saving his life. <br /><br />He said: ''I was so hungry and thirsty. It smelled so bad in there. I didn't think I would ever get out alive.''<br /><br />Senior Sergeant Major Kiatisak Kongphetsak and Corporal Chontit Phinsuwan said he initially called for back-up to search for the middle-aged man after finding meth in the back pocket during the struggle.<br /><br />Police from the Phra Pradaeng police station monitored the area overnight but could not find the escaped suspect until residents told them that they heard a man crying for help from underground.<br /><br />Rescuing the fugitive took longer than they expected as Sopha was too tired to push himself up. They gave him a bottle of water to regain some strength before successfully rescuing him from the drainage.<br /><br />The drug addict was washed as his body was fully covered with stinky mud and then taken to a nearby hospital under the police custody. <br /><br />Lieutenant Colonel Sanyan Phuphanna, the inspector of Phra Pradaeng police station, said: ''We took him for a physical checkup to make sure he wasn't injured during the escape. <br /><br />''Primarily, Sopha will be charged for drug use and possession and will detain to pursue legal proceedings.<br /><br />''This would not have happened if he had surrendered to police in the first instance. He could have died in there.''
