At 6pm, Lt Sompop Kamkana, Deputy Commander of Naval Troop 13 of the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet Area Command and 20 territory defence volunteers raided a house in soi Tha Jean in Rassada after receiving complaints the house was used for drugs and illegal gambling.
Officers attempted to get into the house via the front door but it was locked from the inside. This gave one person the chance to escape through the back door into a mangrove area behind the house.
However, officers chased the man and in doing so came across a shack in the mangrove area.
Inside the shack they found a small amount of crystal meth (ya ice), three smoking devices, chopped marijuana, one methamphetamine pill (ya bah), a high-low gambling board, B70,962 in cash and eight mobile phones.
A number of people ran from the shack and attempted to escape via a large underground wastewater pipe leading to the sea. However, officers apprehended them inside the pipe.
They also arrested others that had tried to get away through the mangroves and surrounding residential area.
Six men and two women were arrested including Anusorn Zhair-ong who admitted to taking drugs and also being the high-low dealer.
Navy officers contacted Phuket City Police to come and check the scene before handing over the eight suspects to them.
Lt Sompop revealed that his office had received complaints from local residents that they suspected people gathered at the house to deal and use drugs and gamble. They requested the navy to investigate and help get rid of drugs and illegal activities in the area.
“The Tha Jean community is a big community and drugs are an on-going problem here. Officials have arrested people many times to try to save this community from its drugs and illegal gambling problem, but it is a big challenge as many people here have low incomes.
“Poverty seems to be as an excuse for some to get involved in the drug dealing business, and every department involved in this attempted clean-up will have to find new strategy to solve the problems in this area,” said Lt Sompop.