This is the horrific moment Thai police allegedly tortured a suspect to death by suffocating him with plastic bags wrapped over his head to extort a £44k bribe.

Officers arrested Jirapong Thanapat, 24, along with his girlfriend while they were reportedly selling methamphetamine drugs in Nakhon Sawan, northeast Thailand on August 5.

Cops allegedly accepted a one million baht (22,000 GBP) bribe for the pair to be released and the alleged crimes ignored – a widely-known practice in the country’s chronically corrupt justice system.

However, furious station chief Colonel Thitisan Utthanaphon then allegedly demanded the pair pay DOUBLE before trying to extort the cash by wrapping at least five plastic bags around Jirapong’s head and taping his hands while repeatedly shaking him.

Jirapong collapsed and officers were unable to revive the suspect before he died the next day in hospital.

Station chief Thitisan – nicknamed Joe Ferrari for his vast sports car collection including a Lamborghini and Bentley – is said to have recorded the death as a ‘drugs overdose’ and released the suspect’s girlfriend on the condition she did not speak.

However, a junior officer at the station leaked the CCTV to a lawyer who publicly demanded that the policemen involved face justice. They claim that Jirapong was suffocated to death by officers while they tried to extort higher bribes.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha today (August 25) ordered an investigation into the death as officials arrested four of the cops involved and began hunting three others – including Joe Ferrari – who are said to have been involved.

A government spokesman said the prime minister ‘wants the national police chief to examine the clip and to give justice to the deceased’.

The military leader ordered national police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk to oversee the investigation. The top cop immediately sacked the officers allegedly involved in the death.

Four were arrested and interrogated while arrest warrants were issued for three others, with cops at checkpoints along the country’s borders ordered to turn them in.

The police chief said: ‘We have watched the clip and believe the officers have committed an offence. The video is authentic. They will be dismissed from the police force and a serious disciplinary investigation will be launched.’

Alleged corrupt cop Joe Ferrari graduated from the Royal Police Cadet Academy in Bangkok before becoming known as one of the best drug enforcement officers in the country.

He was also known as a ‘playboy’ who dated models and boasted a collection of sports cars including a Lamborghini limited-edition Aventador LP 720-4 50 Anniversary special, which he claimed to be the first person in the country to own, along with a Bentley Continental GT, Ferrari 488 GTB and several Mercedes and Porsche.

Ex-girlfriend Pichanak ‘May’ Sakakorn, a Thai actress, even claimed that Joe had ordered officers to spy on her while she was on holiday before turning up at her parent’s house to order her online rants about him to be deleted.

Despite being illegal, bribes are a widely accepted part of the Thai justice system with officers across the country accepting payments in order for cases to be dropped.

The current rate in Bangkok to be paid by foreigners caught drinking illegally at bars that are closed due to Covid-19 is understood to be 10,000 Baht (222 GBP).