2 Chinese men arrested for supplying drug and e-cigarettes to Pattaya partygoers
Operation follows tip-off from Thai teenage drug rehabilitation participant
Police arrested two Chinese men at a condominium in Pattaya earlier today, October 28, for supplying crystal meth and e-cigarettes to foreign partygoers.
Officers from the Chon Buri Provincial Immigration Bureau launched the operation following a tip-off from a Thai teenage girl who had voluntarily entered a drug rehabilitation programme.
The girl reportedly agreed to enter rehabilitation after being previously arrested alongside other drug suspects. During the process, she told officers that she had attended drug parties with Chinese nationals who allegedly sold drugs to other partygoers.
Following the tip-off, police tracked the two Chinese suspects and monitored their activities before arresting them at the car park of a condominium in Bang Lamung district, Pattaya, at around 1.30am.
The Chinese suspects were identified as 33 year old Ruipeng Lian and 46 year old Yong Qi. Police then searched two condominium rooms linked to the men.
In the first room, officers seized 49.49 grammes of crystal meth in ziplock bags, cash, drug-use equipment, a BB gun, and a digital scale. In the second room, they found 2,000 to 3,000 e-cigarettes and 200 cartons of cigarettes illegally imported from China.
Through an interpreter, the suspects confessed to receiving the drugs and e-cigarettes from a Chinese associate in Bangkok to sell to foreign tourists, mainly at private parties in Pattaya.
Officers documented all evidence and handed the suspects and seized items to Mueang Pattaya Police Station for further legal action. The specific punishment the two men may face was not clarified in the report.
Under Section 145 of the Narcotics Control Act, possession of a Category 1 drug for sale carries a penalty of two to 20 years’ imprisonment and fines of 200,000 to two million baht.
For the sale of e-cigarettes, they could face up to three years in prison, a fine of up to 600,000 baht, or both, for violating the Consumer Protection Act.
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