Drug bust nails big ya bah dealer’s brother

PHUKET TOWN: Police yesterday arrested a 30-year-old man who, they believe, had ambitions to take over from his brother as one of Phuket’s biggest dealers in ya bah (methamphetamine). The man, Seksan Tuambang, was arrested in possession of 200 tablets of the drug in a sting operation involving the dealer’s right-hand man, Mongkol Kantakarn, 19. Pol Maj Manat Iamchareonchaikul, Inspector of the Narcotics Division at the Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that Mongkol was the first to be arrested after undercover officers bought 10 tablets from him at a phone booth on Narisorn Rd in the early hours of the morning. Mongkol told the police that he had bought the pills from Seksan. The police then persuaded him to call Seksan and set up another drug buy at the Kang Liang Restaurant on Takuapa Rd. Seksan arrived and was arrested after he was found to be carrying 200 tablets of ya bah. The police found 70 more tablets at his apartment on Sutat Rd. Maj Manat said that before the arrests an informant had told the police that Seksan had decided to take over his brother’s ya bah operation after the brother was arrested. The brother, Prasit Tuambang, was released on bail of 800,000 baht, but has since disappeared. Maj Manat said, “The man was one of the biggest ya bah dealers here.”