FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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142 people rounded up in raid on Bangkok pub

142 people rounded up in raid on Bangkok pub

Officials from three ministries raided a pub in Bangkok’s Jom Thong district early Saturday and rounded up 135 suspected drug abusers and seven underage drinkers.

The raid at the Infinity Indy pub on Suksawat Soi 2 was carried out at 1.45am. It was led by Mana Simma, director of the crime investigation division of the Provincial Administration Department of the Interior Ministry, and Ronnarong Tipsiri, director of the suppression division of the department. Taking part in the operation were officials from the Juvenile Observation and Protection Department of the Justice Ministry and the Excise Department of the Finance Ministry.
When the officials raided the pub, they found more than 200 pub goers fully occupying the dance floor on the ground floor and on the second floor.
Ronnarong said tiny amounts of various kinds of drugs in several wrappers were found littered on the floor. Some were hidden in ice buckets.
He said the raid was carried out after the officials received complaints that the pub often violated the 2am closing-hour rule and allowed underaged drinkers to enter.
Ronnarong said 77 women and 58 men tested positive to drug use hence they were detained for further legal action.
The officials also found seven pub goers were under 20 years old. Their parents were contacted to pick them up after paying a fine.
Twenty-six men and 11 women, who had no ID cards, were fined before being released.
Ronnarong said a pub guard, Torsakul Wareewanit, 36, was arrested as he was found carrying a 9mm pistol. The officials also found a homemade sawn-off shotgun and three rounds of ammunition hidden under a stairway.
The pub manager, Chalermpol Anu-an, 35, was arrested and charged with operating an entertainment venue without licence, selling alcohol drinks without licence, selling alcohol to underage drinkers, having unlicensed communications equipment in possession and having illegal firearms in possession.

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