At 10am this morning, the 41st Military Circle led by chief of peace and order operations Maj Sathit Naikul together with defence volunteers led by Phuket District Office official Mr Mr Wiratdej Boonriangkhao raided two homes in Moo Baan Saphan Ruam Soi 6 in Rassada after receiving a tip-off that the home owners had been selling drugs to local teenagers.
Following the raids, it was announced that 58.5kg of kratom, 45 bottles of cough syrup and B13,000 in cash had been seized and one arrest made.
Maj Sathit said, “When we arrived at one of the homes (No. 33) we saw one woman come out, but she quickly fled the area.
“Inside the home officers found an elderly woman, Ms Jai, 74. She had had many bags of kratom leaves placed in a sack and basket which were hidden in the bathroom and bedroom.
“Some of kratom leaves were clearly ready to be distributed as the were bagged together with cough syrup,” he said.
“Ms Jai told us that she is from Khon Kaen and that she has no income. She and the home owner know each other and she looks after the house when the owner is away. She admitted that she sometimes helps sell kratom for the owner which she sells for B200 per set (two bundle of leaves and one bottle of cough syrup).
“When we went to the other address (No. 30) there was nobody there to open the door so we asked a neighbour to contact the owner. The owner still refused to cooperate, so the neighbour gained access to the property and during our search we found more kratom leaves both fresh and cooked,” he added.
Ms Jai was taken to Phuket City Police Station where she was to be questioned further. Police will also issue a summons for both homeowners to come to the police station to face charges.