Police bust woman in Phuket with 5 kilograms of crystal meth
Police busted a woman in Phuket with 5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine on Monday night. The Commander of Border Patrol Police Region 4, Pol. Maj. Gen. Somkun Kanchana-Udomkan, announced the arrest yesterday.
Officers had received a tip-off that a consignment of drugs would be delivered in front of a durian shop on Wichit Songkram Road in the Kathu district. The officers waited outside of the shop and arrested the woman when she arrived on her red Phuket-registered Honda PCX motorbike.
The woman matched the description that the informant had provided. She was identified as 40 year old Kamonrat ‘Rose’ Poomyot, from the northeast Maha Sarakham province.
According to The Phuket News, Rose initially protested her arrest but soon admitted that she sold drugs. Police searched Rose’s room on Soi Mae Im on Moo 7, in Kathu, and found 5,0005 grammes of crystal meth, according to Maj Gen Somkun.
Rose said that she received the drugs from her boss but claimed she did not know his name. She said the drugs would be delivered to her by a private transport company, and she would go on to drop the drugs off at various spots in Phuket depending on the instructions given to her.
Rose revealed she had performed drug runs only once before her arrest.
She was paid 1,000 baht per 100 grammes of drugs delivered.
According to The Phuket Express, Rose’s claim that this was only her second time selling drugs was met with scepticism by the police.
Rose remains in custody, facing drug-related charges. However, police are continuing to investigate the drug network, as they believe the boss is a major supplier in the area.
Authorities in Thailand have been increasing their efforts to curb the sale and possession of drugs in the country, with several drug busts happening across the country in recent months. The police have been cracking down on drug networks and those involved in drug trafficking to stem the flow of drugs into the country.
Last month, Region 8 Police carried out an anti-crime operation, titled Defeat Andaman. The raids resulted in the seizure of over 200,000 meth pills and 96 firearms with 320 suspects being arrested. The campaign targeted drug networks and operations in the seven southern provinces under the Region 8 Police jurisdiction.
The provinces – Chumphon, Krabi, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Phang Nga, Phuket, Ranong, and Surat Thani – include some of the most popular tourist hotspots in the country.
The operation also led to the confiscation of 228 items of property valued at about 41.3 million baht.
