The 39-year-old man, named as Mr Suthin or Tom in police reports, lived at Village No. 4 in Rawai and had been selling methamphetamine pills (ya bah) and crystal meth (ya ice) mainly to people in the Mueang area of the island.
This illegal activity was often undertaken when Mr Suthin was conducting his legal occupation of a food delivery driver.
Police raided a room Mr Suthin was renting in Soi Tha Chin, Village No. 3, Ratsada earlier this morning (June 29), where they discovered 1,200 methamphetamine tablets, 1.4 kilograms of crystal meth, drug paraphernalia, clear plastic zipper bags used to hold the drugs, and two phones that were used in the illegal operation.
The raid was led according to the Narcotics Act 2021 under the direction of Pol. Maj. Gen. Sinlert Sukhum, Phuket Provincial Police Commander; Pol. Col. Akanit Danpitaksat, Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police; Pol. Col. Ekkalak Boonsangcharoen, Phuket Provincial Investigation Superintendent; Pol. Lt. Col. Pichit Thongto, Phuket Provincial Police Crime Suppression Division chief, along with Provincial Crime Suppression Division officials.
On being apprehended then questioned, Mr Suthin explained that he took on the extra work of delivering drugs to help supplement his income, adding that he would hide the drugs in bags that were typically used to deliver food.
Mr Suthin further explained that he would deliver the drugs at the prompting of a superior, who was unnamed in police reports.
Mr Suthin would pick up the drugs and take them to an area of land at the side at a friend’s house in Rawai where they would be hidden in specially dug holes which were observed by a nearby CCTV camera. As and when the order came for deliveries, Mr Suthin would retreve the illegal stash and deliver as instructed. He added that he was promised a salary of B15,000 for every 1 kilogram sold successfully.
Mr Suthin was taken to Mueang Police Station to face charges of illegally selling category 1 narcotics (ice, methamphetamine) which poses a significant threat to the safety and security of the general public.