A photo of “undercover” male police officers in Thailand dressed as a female dance troupe to catch a notorious drug dealer went viral — before cops admitted it was an AI-generated image.
The photo, showing five male officers and a woman in colorful sparkly dresses with the suspect, was originally shared by Thai police on Facebook as a genuine picture — with cops boasting that they’d nabbed the suspect in spectacular fashion.
But the image was revealed this week to be a joke generated using artificial intelligence software — with police saying the arrest itself in Tha Luang in eastern Thailand was real.
A photo of “undercover” male police officers in Thailand dressed as a female dance troupe to catch a notorious drug dealer went viral — before cops admitted it was an AI-generated image. Tha Luang Police“I wanted to create a friendlier image of the police – showing a cute and humorous side – so that people would feel more comfortable approaching officers. Sometimes the public feels intimidated by the police,” police sergeant Rachata Mitrsuipong told local media about posting the fake pic.
He added that the arrest was genuine and shared the original photo, which showed five male police officers in ordinary clothes, while the female in the AI-generated picture was not in it at all.
The suspect, a man named Mekha Fa-wap-wap, was found with 53 methamphetamine pills, more than 200 plastic bags to hold drugs and a mobile phone, according to police.
Cops suspected Mekha of involvement in illegal activity but decided to disguise themselves as dancers during a street festival to catch him off guard, the Vietnamese outlet Doi Song & Phap Luat reported.
He now faces charges for possessing category one narcotics for sale and operating an unauthorized slot machine, police said.
Mekha, 33, remains in police custody awaiting further legal proceedings.
Although this case turned out to be fake, Thai police have reportedly resorted to outlandish disguises to nab suspects in the past.
Recently, cops in the capital, Bangkok, dressed up as a lion dance troupe during the Lunar New Year to nab a repeat offender.
Editor’s note: The original version of this story took the initial photo shared by police in good faith and reported it as genuine. It has since been updated to reflect that it is an AI-generated image.
