Unfriended: Marijuana cancer-cure claim on Facebook leads to arrest
A Chiang Mai man was arrested Wednesday for allegedly claiming on Facebook that he was a doctor and the marijuana he was selling could cure cancer.
Pol Lt Col Nitiphan Sangkhakorn, deputy inspector of Provincial Poice Bureau 5, said Yusuf Monthaya, 26, was arrested in a sting operation after he allegedly handed 12.3 grams of marijuana to an undercover police officer.
Nitiphan said Yusuf was arrested in the restroom of a petrol station on Sanambin Road in Tambon Suthep.
Provincial Bureau 5 monitors certain Facebook pages and had an officer join a group called “Trust Me about Herbs”.
Yusuf was allegedly posting online as an “associate professional doctor” and offering marijuana for sale as a cure for cancer.
The officer in the group ordered 12.3 grams for Bt1,000.
Nitiphan claimed Yusuf said he got the weed from a fried to sell on Facebook and had been doing so for a while, and that he posed as a doctor to boost sales.
Yusuf’s “friend” is now being sought.