drugs
- Crime News
Kratom a step closer to legalisation for medicinal use
Kratom, a plant known for its psychotropic and relaxing effects, is in the process of being legalised in Thailand for medicinal use. The Cabinet just approved the Justice Ministry’s bill to amend the Kratom Act which would legalise production as well as importation and exportation of kratom. The bill will be forwarded to the Office of the Council of State…
- Crime News
Former prisoner, released after murder rap, re-arrested for possession of weapons, drugs
A routine checkpoint in Pattaya has led to the re-arrest of a 31 year old man recently released from prison following his role in a murder 14 years ago. The Pattaya News reports that Somphong Kaewpaijit was arrested in possession of a machine gun and illegal drugs. He was previously found guilty of involvement in the murder of jet-ski champion,…
- Crime News
Police confiscate 300 kilos of marijuana in central Thailand drugs bust
A drugs bust in the central province of Nonthaburi, just north of central Bangkok, has netted 300 kilos of marijuana, valued at around 2 million baht. Anti-narcotics officers confiscated the haul yesterday when they apprehended 3 men in a department store car park. Thai Residents reports that dried marijuana usually fetches around 6,500 baht per kilo on the black market.…
- Crime News
Thailand farmers hope to grow and export cannabis by next year
Under a proposed law, Thailand farmers would be allowed to grow cannabis and hemp for export without going through cannabis certified universities or medical institutes. The National Farmers Council president Praphat Panyachatrak says he hopes the new law will be in place by next year. The legislation is still being reviewed by the Public Health Ministry and National Legislative Assembly,…
- Crime News
Former party-list MP candidate convicted of drug smuggling, sentenced to 50 years in prison
A former party-list MP candidate is sentenced to 50 years in prison for smuggling crystal methamphetamine. Suban Mahachanon was on the MP candidate list for Seri Ruam Thai Party in the March 2019 election, but his bid was unsuccessful. Just a few months later, he arrested for drug trafficking a large amount of methamphetamine into the Philippines. Suban was busted…
- Thailand News
Phuket police arrest 6 after finding large amounts of methamphetamine in raid
Phuket Provincial Police have arrested 6 people after finding large amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs during a raid. One suspect alone allegedly had 7.6 kilograms of crystal meth (ya ice) and over 12,500 methamphetamine pills (ya bah). 29 year old Surasak ‘Bank’ Wijit and 27 year old Panida ‘Mei’ Saeyang were arrested at an apartment car park in Soi…
- Crime News
240 kilograms of marijuana found in truck after police chase, driver still on the run
Border patrol officers chased a pickup truck and seized 240 kilograms of marijuana they say was smuggled across the Thai-Laos border. In the chase, the driver allegedly drove into oncoming traffic, hitting another car before ditching his vehicle and running off. Officers say they believe the marijuana was smuggled across the Mekong River from Laos and then it was piled…
- Northern Thailand News
Border police find 160 kilograms of marijuana hidden in fertiliser sacks
Border police found 160 kilograms of compressed marijuana near an Isaan roadside. Police say they believe the marijuana was trafficked across the Mekong River. No suspects were found and no arrests were made, at this stage. Police suspect the marijuana was smuggled in on long tail boats from Laos to the Isaan province of Nakhon Phanom during the tropical storm…
- Crime News
Methamphetamine found in coconut milk cans, shipped from Thailand to Sydney
Thailand police are looking suspects who smuggled nearly a tonne of liquid methamphetamine in cans of coconut milk. The cans were shipped from Thailand to Sydney. Australian police seized the 600 litres of methamphetamine and arrested 2 people for taking the delivery. 86 boxes of cans of “coconut milk” were shipped from Thailand to Sydney last month, according to the…
- Crime News
Methamphetamine pills found in tamarind shipment addressed to South Korea
Methamphetamine pills were found stuffed in packs of tamarind, a local fruit, about to be shipped out from Bangkok to South Korea. A shipping agent noticed the package was “suspicious” and contacted Bangkok’s Khlong Tan Police. Officers inspected the package and opened the bundles of dried tamarind. They found methamphetamine pills wrapped in a black plastic bag, hidden in dried tamarind.…
- Crime News
Surat Thani police chase leads to drug bust
A police chase led officers to stop and search a man’s truck in Thailand’s south, discovering nearly 400,000 methamphetamine pills. They arrested 44 year old Thammarat Phothisan for allegedly carrying 396,000 methamphetamine pills in his truck. Thammarat was driving toward the Surat Thani’s Phun Phin district checkpoint when he suddenly turned around and sped off. The province’s police chief says…
- Northern Thailand News
Man arrested for allegedly trafficking 112 million baht worth of drugs
Police arrested a 50 year old man for allegedly carrying 112 million baht worth of illegal drugs. Police searched his pickup truck at a Sakon Nakhon checkpoint in Northeast Thailand and found 75 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine pills and marijuana. The methamphetamine was separated into 1-kilogram packs. They also found 2,000 methamphetamine pill, known as speed, police say. The…
- Covid-19 News
Bangkok prisoner tests positive for Covid-19… first local transmission in 100 days
A 37 year old prisoner has tested positive for Covid-19 on the same day Thailand reached 100 days since a local coronavirus infection. The male inmate has already been moved from the Bangkok prison to a Corrections Department hospital and the other 34 inmates who had contact with him have been tested. The infected man is reported to have worked in…
- Crime News
Gunfire exchange kills alleged drug dealer, injures 3 police
An alleged drug dealer was killed and 3 police officers were injured in a gunfire exchange this morning. Police say 46 year old Udom Rattanamanee, who was killed, and his wife Areeya Panthip were allegedly major drug dealers in Phuket. Around 8am this morning, police went to Udom’s house in the southern province Nakhon Si Thammarat with arrest warrants for…
- Crime News
Thai police find 1.6 billion baht worth of drugs hidden in truck
Police found 1.6 billion baht worth of illegal drugs, including methamphetamine and heroin, inside a 12-wheel truck trailer at a checkpoint in Kanchanaburi near the Myanmar border. The national police chief says it’s the province’s biggest drug bust. The 59 year old driver, Sakchai Kaerod, was arrested. Thai PBS did not mention the charges the driver is facing. Sakchai says…
- World News
Police arrest truck driver carrying 140,000 meth pills
Police found around 140,000 methamphetamine pills hidden in a pickup truck at a checkpoint in Kanchanaburi, Central Thailand. Police arrested the driver, 49 year old Chen Sichan. The driver says he picked up the drugs from the Three Pagodas Pass, a Myanmar-Thailand border checkpoint, according to police. The drugs would be driven to a petrol station in Kanchanaburi town and…
- World News
Appeals court upholds Lao drug kingpin’s life sentence
The Appeals Court today upheld the lower court’s sentence of life imprisonment for Lao drug kingpin Xaysana “Mr. X” Keopimpha for colluding to possess large quantities of methamphetamine pills in 2015 and 2016. The ruling was handed down at the Criminal Court today. Xaysana and 2 accomplices, Chumphon Phanompai and Ratchapon Ratsaponpakorn, were arrested and charged with collusion in the…
- Crime News
No probe from prosecution commission after deputy attorney-general drops “Boss” charges
Deputy Attorney-General Nate Naksuk will not be investigated by the Public Prosecutor Commission after his decision to drop a charge of reckless driving against Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya. It is alleged the Red Bull heir ran over and killed a Bangkok policeman in 2012, while speeding and under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Since announcing the dropping of charges, Nate…
- Crime News
6 nabbed in Northern drug bust
Authorities in northern Thailand have have arrested 6 members of a drug network with monthly sales of around 40 million baht, and seized property worth 5.7 million baht. The chief of Provincial Police Region 1 told reporters the 6 worked for the drug network operated by Boonmee “Jae” Phromma, who was caught last year. 4 of the 6 were women,…
- Crime News
Human trafficking and drugs suspects nabbed using airport biometrics
2 suspects have recently been arrested using the biometric security system recently installed in international airports across Thailand. In the first case, a suspected human trafficker was apprehended after returning to Thailand during the Covid-19 crisis. Immigration officers received information from Chiang Mai police about a person travelling into Thailand from Japan. On July 14, a Thai citizen returned to…
- Pattaya News
107 kilograms of cannabis seized, 3 arrested in Chon Buri drugs bust
Police in Chon Buri have carried out a large drug seizure, confiscating 107 kilograms of cannabis, as well as other items. 3 suspects are under arrest. Police confirmed the arrests and confiscation of illegal substances at a press conference held shortly after. The first 2 arrests took place at a restaurant in Soi Buakhao in Pattaya, with the suspects named…
- Pattaya News
Crazed knife-wielding man arrested in Pattaya while threatening others
An unnamed Thai man has been arrested on Pattaya’s Beach Road and charged with causing a public disturbance after wielding a large knife and attempting to cut his own throat while threatening bystanders. The man was shirtless and rambling incoherently, with drugs or alcohol suspected to be involved. The Pattaya News reports that the man stole the knife from a…
- Northern Thailand News
Khon Kaen police raid drug warehouse
A drug warehouse has been raided in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen. The warehouse is in Khon Kaen City’s main business district, and several types of drugs, which police valued at tens of millions of baht, were seized. The provincial governor, police chief and other authorities reported the arrest of 35 year old “Jetsadaporn” and 34 year old “Jurairat”, …
- Crime News
Police say “Boss” tested positive for cocaine due to dentistry
Police are claiming that illicit drugs, including cocaine, found in the blood samples of Red Bull scion Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya in the infamous fatal 2012 hit-and-run case were for his dental treatment. A parliamentary committee invited officials yesterday for questioning regarding case. A spokesman for the committee told a press briefing that the panel questioned officers who handled the case…
- Crime News
Bangkok police seize fake drugs, cosmetics, supplements in factory raid
Police and officers of the Food and Drug Administration seized 119 items made using hazardous substances and sporting fake labels in a raid on an illegal factory near Bangkok’s Pratunam intersection. The products were valued at 200,000 baht. The FDA reported the production of illegal healthcare products, which led police to Tofu Skincare based in the capitol’s Ratchathewi district. The…
- Crime News
Man high on yaba tries to stab family after not sleeping for 6 days
A man high on what Thai people call yaba (a drug containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine) reportedly tried to stab his wife and child after getting no sleep for 6 nights. The incident occurred in the eastern province of Chon Buri with the man saying his drug-induced hallucinations were convincing him someone was trying to kill him. Thai…
- Northern Thailand News
Millions of meth pills, tonnes of marijuana seized in 3 major drug hauls
In what is becoming an increasingly common story, police have announced the seizure of millions of methamphetamine pills (ya ba) and more than 2 tonnes of marijuana, among other types of illicit drugs, in 3 major anti-drug operations last week. The head of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau told a press briefing that drug agencies confiscated nearly 1.5 million methamphetamine pills,…
- Crime News
Man arrested for repeatedly raping stepdaughter in Nakhon Si Thammarat
Police in southern Thailand have arrested a 38 year old man and charged him with the repeated rape of his young stepdaughter, along with illegal drug use. Officers of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division and local police arrested the man at his house in Nakhon Si Thammarat province yesterday. The arrest follows a complaint filed by the girl’s grandmother. She…
- South Thailand News
Police arrest 3, find 250 kilograms of crystal meth in truck in southern Thailand
Police arrested 3 people involved in drug operations after stopping a 10 wheel truck at a security checkpoint and finding 250 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, hidden in 12 fertiliser sacks. That is a very large seizure of the crystal form of methamphetamine. The lorry driver, Koseng Cheha, was arrested at the checkpoint in Songkhla in southern Thailand. Cheha…
- Northern Thailand News
2 arrested in Isaan for methamphetamines, assets seized
Police in Isaan’s Nakhon Phanom province say they’ve arrested 2 men with 42,000 methamphetamine pills (“yaba”) and 100 grams of crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) in their possession, and seized their assets. The deputy provincial governor identified the pair as 29 year old Vichai Niwongsa and 45 year old Veerapong Ngaonoi, both from the Tha Uthen district. He says authorities followed the…
