Police raid Buriram store for illegal gamecock medication
Police in Buriram, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, conducted a raid on a store selling gamecock medication, following reports of substandard drugs causing multiple chicken deaths. The unregistered medications were seized during the operation yesterday, February 26.
Police Major General Narongsak Promtha, the Provincial Police Region Commander of Buriram, received a tip-off from the Ministry of Public Health regarding a store in the province selling poor-quality gamecock medication.
This had reportedly resulted in significant losses for gamecock breeders, with several birds dying. Consequently, Police Colonel Chamras Siriliang, the Superintendent of Mueang Buriram Police Station, was ordered to investigate.
The investigation identified the store in question, located in Mueang district’s Chum Het subdistrict, under the name Gamecock Equipment, Medicine, and Animal Feed. A search warrant was issued, and officers, including provincial health officials and an investigative team, inspected the premises.
Upon inspection, a large quantity of gamecock supplements and treatments was discovered. Sarawut, the store owner, initially informed the police that he sold both types of medication, in-store and online.
He suggested that the complaints regarding the chicken deaths might have been due to pre-existing illnesses, as no other customers had raised similar issues. He noted that this was the first incident in his three years of operation.
Kanokporn Chanaka, Deputy Provincial Public Health Doctor of Buriram, responsible for consumer protection and public health pharmacy, stated that the Ministry of Public Health had been alerted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the sale of unregistered chicken medication. This led to the coordinated police search.
The initial findings revealed that the store lacked a license to sell medicine, with some drugs being registered and others not.
Kanokporn highlighted that without product registration, consumers cannot ascertain quality. The public complaint included images of deceased chickens, stressing the importance of verifying product registration before purchase, reported KhaoSod.
The police have preliminarily charged the store with selling medication without a license and selling unregistered medication. The penalties for selling unregistered products include a prison sentence of up to five years, a fine not exceeding 10,000 baht (US$300), or both.
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