Several arrests made as drug crackdown continues

In Surat Thani, police arrested a male nurse and six others for allegedly dealing in “ice” flakes and amphetamines. A manhunt is also on for eight other members of this ring who are said to be on the run. 

Suspect Thawatchai Sombat said he had had been buying “ice” from a network run by an inmate at the Bangkok Remand Prison. 

In the raids, police confiscated a total of 5 kilograms of ice as well as 1,057 amphetamine tablets worth about Bt15 million, in addition to several title deeds of land believed to have been bought with drug money. 

In Chiang Rai, an Army unit arrested a man at a checkpoint and seized 3,000 amphetamine tablets allegedly in his possession. Another team of soldiers spotted two men wading across the river from Myanmar, who fled before they could be nabbed, dropping packets of 44,000 amphetamine tablets and a kilogram of ice. Police also arrested a hilltribe man at a checkpoint after they allegedly found 121 amphetamine tablets and a small amount of heroin in his possession. 

In Udon Thani, police and public health officials raided a pharmacy in Muang district and seized a large amount pseudoephedrine-based medication that had been stocked up without permission. Pharmacy owner Chom Wiannok was arrested and charged with possessing restricted medicines, though he insisted that the drugs had been put aside to be returned to manufacturers as required by the authorities. 

In Pathum Thani, police said they seized an amphetamine-making machine and other drug-making chemicals in the home of suspect Thinnakorn “Joke” Chinbat, after another team of police officers had earlier arrested a suspect based in Pattaya. The suspect reportedly ran a motorcycle-repair business as a front for drug trafficking, police said.