Police raid reveals illegal kratom and e-cigarette operation in Loei
Crackdown targets illegal substances
Police in Loei province, under the direction of Police Major General Weeradech Lekhawarakul and other senior officers, conducted a raid on a residence in Ban Khon Daeng, Mueang Loei district suspected of illegal activities. The operation yesterday, July 7, was in collaboration with pharmacists from the Loei Provincial Public Health Office.
The rented house had been identified as a production site for a dangerous kratom-based concoction and a storage facility for electronic cigarettes intended for sale to youths. This location had previously been raided, but the illegal activities had resumed.
During the search, officers seized various items including 88 bottles of Allergin Syrub, 196 bottles of Asacog cough syrup, 12 bottles of FATEC cough syrup, a jar containing 500 Benzhexol tablets, 85 strips of Volcidol, 16 boxes of disposable e-cigarettes, 46 pieces of disposable e-cigarettes, 156 m-switch chargers, 16 boxes of m-switch liquid pods, 6 e-cigarette devices, 10 e-cigarette pods, 13 Infy e-cigarettes, 84 bottles of kratom mixed with Thai tea, two pots used for brewing kratom, a gas burner, and a gas cylinder.
Kemawat, a 21 year old from Loei province, was found at the scene and confessed to owning all the seized items. He admitted to ordering e-cigarettes from south Thailand and the medications from Bangkok, and brewing kratom for sale.
He recently made purchases exceeding 100,000 baht (US$3,080). On July 4, another suspect was arrested for selling a dangerous kratom concoction in Pak Chom district and claimed to have sourced the drugs from Kemawat.
The charges against Kemawat include possessing dangerous modern medicines for sale without authorisation under Section 12 of the Drug Act of 1967, possessing electronic cigarettes, which are banned imports, and concealing and distributing items known to have entered the kingdom without proper customs procedures under Section 246 of the Customs Act of 2017.
Additionally, he faces charges for producing and selling kratom-based food products without permission from the Food and Drug Administration, violating the Food Act of 1979 as per the Ministry of Public Health’s announcement (No. 424) of 2021, which prohibits the production, import, or sale of certain food items, including kratom, reported KhaoSod.
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