Food vendor nabbed for ketamine delivery sideline
A 24-year-old food vendor who was arrested on Tuesday morning over his illegal sideline of delivering ketamine, claimed that he had done it because he needed the cash to take care of his young daughter and pay long-overdue instalments on his motorcycle, according to police.
Suspect Thanapan Sinprasert was nabbed at 7.30am while sitting suspiciously on his motorcycle with a black garbage bag, which was later found to contain 2 kilograms of powdered ketamine worth Bt120,000.
He was waiting for a customer at a predesignated dimly lit spot near the railway in Soi Wutthakart 47 in Bangkok’s Chom Thong district, said Bang Khun Thien precinct deputy superintendent Pol Lt-Colonel Narongrit Thongphae.
When he saw patrol police walking towards him, Thanapan fled on foot towards Soi Wutthakart 43, upon which police gave chase and captured him.
Thanapan – a former convict who had served nine months behind bars last year on an attempted-murder charge – said he had taken a short course on how to make dim sum, steamed noodle rolls and zongzi (a traditional Chinese rice dish) for sale via online bookings, but that had not worked out well.
In urgent need of money to raise his nearly two-year-old daughter and to pay multiple-months-overdue motorcycle instalments, he sought help from a former cellmate to get a ketamine-delivery job, he is reported to have told police.
He claimed that this was his first delivery – in which he had taken the drugs, provided by a 20-year-old named Kwang – to deliver to a customer at the predesignated location, in the hope of getting Bt5,000 for his labour, Narongrit said.
The suspect has been initially charged with possession of ketamine, a category-two narcotic substance, with intent to sell.
Meanwhile, police are hunting for his alleged accomplice, the deputy superintendent added.