Provincial Police Chief Col Teeraphol Thipjaroen held a press conference at 1:30pm today (June 27) to announce the arrests of a major Phuket drug dealer named Kitipong Chorphol, 22, and three other men, Teerapong Rithirak, 23, Yongyuth Thiprong, 22, and Pananat Praweeranan,22, who are all said to work for Kitipong’s network.
On display at the press conference were various items seized from the four including 9,100 ya bah pills, 0.7g of crystal meth (ya ice), 390.10g of marijuana, five pistols and 269 bullets. However, other additional items seized included a Nissan pickup truck and B60,000 in cash.
Col Teeraphol explained that anti-narcotic officers had learnt that Kitipong and dealers have been selling drugs to local teenagers in Chalong. However, they also found that Kitipong and his network were also supplying drugs to other dealers in the area.
“After monitoring the group for some time, at 4:30pm on June 23 an undercover officer was sent out on a sting operation to buy drugs from a dealer named Therapong from a property in Chalong.
“The officer bought 1,700 ya bah pills, .70g of ya ice and 52.60 grams of marijuana from Theerapong,” he said.
“When arrested, Theerapong told police told that all the drugs had come from Kitippong and provided them with his address.
“At 10pm the same day, police went to search Kitipong’s rented room in Chalong where they found 7,400 ya bah pills, 337.5g of marijuana, five pistols, 268 bullets and other items including cash.
“Following his arrest, Kitipong provided police with the names of two more dealers from his network, Yongyuth and Pananat, who were both arrested on June 24 in Wichit,” he added.
Kitipong and Yongyuth now face charges of possession of Category 1 drugs with intent to sell, possession of a Category 5 drug and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Pananat will be charged with possession of a Category 1 drug with intend to sell and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition, while Theerapong faces charges of possession of Category 1 drugs with intent to sell and possession of a Category 5 drug.