Tourists arrested for magic mushrooms
AN AMERICAN WOMAN IS ONE of two tourists recently arrested for possession of illegal mushrooms after she was stopped at a road checkpoint in Kamala.
Pol Lt Suriya Kiatpaisansophon of the Kamala Police explained that officers had set up a traffic checkpoint at At the ‘Naka Public Service Point’ police box on the Kamala-Patong Road, in Moo 6, Kamala, on Jan 23.
At about 5:30pm, the officers at the checkpoint stopped 27-year-old Egyptian national Khaled Mohamed Abobakr, who was driving a Honda Click motorbike with American citizen Karima Salah Mohamed riding pillion.
The officers asked to inspect the vehicle and a shoulder bag the couple had with them.
The officers found dried ‘buffalo dung’ mushrooms in a clear, pressclose plastic bag. The mushrooms, listed as a Category 5 narcotic and better known as ’magic mushrooms’, weighed 2.8 grammes.
For reasons unexplained, the American woman was deemed to be the person in possession of the mushrooms. The officers informed her of her rights and placed her under arrest, Kamala Police reported.
Ms Mohamed and the mushrooms were handed over to investigating officers for her to be charged with illegal possession of a Category 5 narcotic without permission, Kamala Police confirmed.
The arrest was one of four arrests for drugs reported by Kamala Police in a report posted on Jan 24.
In addition to the arrest of Ms Mohamed, one person was arrested with illegal possession of crystal meth with intent to sell and two suspects were arrested for selling kratom juice in bottles without permission, Kamala Police confirmed.
Eakkapop Thongtub