Ya bah busts: 5 arrested, 1,453 pills of ya bah seized

PHUKET CITY: Police arrested five men and seized 1,453 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills and two firearms in a series of arrests starting early Thursday morning.

Seeing two men busy repairing motorcycles in front of their home in Srisuchart Grandview Village in Rassada at 3:30 am, traffic police searched Theerawat Toh-Mad, 26, from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, and Surasak Anantakan, 25, from Ranong.

After finding them in possession of 22 ya bah pills and 13,800 baht in cash, they searched the house and uncovered an unregistered semi-automatic 9mm pistol with ammunition, police said.

The pair named as their supplier Saran “Bung-Od” Pu-Nguen, 43, from Krabi, who was arrested in a sting operation at the Phuket Garden Hotel on Bangkok Rd in Phuket City at 1 pm the same day.

A search of Saran and his car uncovered 90 more ya bah pills and a loaded .38 pistol, police said.

He confessed to drug and firearms charges, said police, and told officers there was a stash of drugs in Room 202 of The Royal Residence Hotel, where police a few hours later arrested Phuket native Anan “Nok” Kaewprasert, 35, from Thalang, and seized 52,000 baht in cash and 1,340 more ya bah pills.

Anan in turn identified his supplier as Jarin “Rarin” Pongmak, 36, from Trang, but a search of Jarin’s room at Suksomboon Apartments in Poonphol Night Plaza uncovered a single ya bah pill. This was enough, however, for police to seize his pickup truck, 50,000 baht in cash and two gold bracelets as evidence.

A Toyota Corolla, eight mobile phones and a total of 102,000 baht in cash were also listed as evidence collected by police.

All five were charged with possession of ya bah with intent to sell, while three of the suspects were also charged with illegal possession of firearms.