Gambling again leads arrest stats

PHUKET: Gambling once again topped the arrest statistics this month, with 176 people caught in 82 raids. However, police statistics show that the arrests for illegal gambling between February 1 and 24 were down from the same period in January, when 193 people were arrested in 113 raids. The police also arrested 139 people for drug-related offences, down slightly from last month’s figure of 144. The February figure included 52 arrests involving ya bah (methamphetamine) from 48 raids. Arrests for prostitution ranked third with 47 arrests, down from last month’s figure of 53. Two murders were reported this month. One was a murder-suicide case in which a Kathu policeman shot his girlfriend and then himself. The other killing, the shooting death of a suspected drug dealer in Kamala on February 4, remains unsolved. Seven assaults were reported, six of which were solved, while 32 illegal immigrants were arrested in the same period. This statistic does not include the 207 illegals arrested in the first few days of this week.