Police bust Thong Lor ganja gang
12 suspects caught, kilos of drugs seized
Police have busted a gang selling marijuana online in Bangkok’s Thong Lor area, arresting 12 men during raids in the capital, Pathum Thani and Ayutthaya.
Pol Lt Gen Pakkapong Pongpetra, head of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, and Thong Lor police investigators announced the arrests yesterday.
In one raid, Thong Lor police arrested a man identified only as Bank, 27, and eight associates, seizing 3 kilogrammes of dried marijuana, 1kg of hed mao (hallucinogenic mushrooms) at a car care shop on Soi Ramkhamhaeng 24/3 in Bangkok’s Bang Kapi district.
In a second raid, a man called Diew, 24, was apprehended with 1.5kg of dried marijuana in the car park of a shopping mall in Pathum Thani.
Officers later arrested another individual called Boss, 29, with 2kg of dried marijuana and seven marijuana plants at a house in the Samsen area of Bangkok’s Phaya Thai district.
Investigators also arrested a Chinese man, identified only as Yin Ma, 36, and allegedly found 1kg of dried marijuana at a house in Bang Pa-in district of Ayutthaya.
His arrest led to the seizure of 317 marijuana plants at a commercial building also in Bang Kapi district.
The seized drugs were worth about 6 million baht, according to police.
Pol Lt Gen Pakkapong said the arrests followed an investigation by Thong Lor police into reports tourists staying in the area were buying marijuana online.
The marijuana was being advertised on a Line Chat group called “Heaven Herb”, which had about 6,000 members, the Bangkok police chief said.
Their inquiries led to the arrest of Bank and his accomplices which in turn led police to the pair identified as Boss and Diew.
During interrogation, Diew allegedly said he had purchased marijuana from a Chinese national. This led to the arrest of Yin Ma and the seizure of the 317 marijuana plants on the second and third floors of the Bang Kapi commercial building, Pol Lt Gen Pakkapong said.
Yin Ma is alleged to have grown the plants for sale.
Police said he could produce 10kg of marijuana a month for a Thai and foreign clientele, with deliveries to 30-40 customers a day.
He is thought to have sold marijuana to 5,000-6,000 customers before being caught.