Student faces up to 15-year sentence for selling poppy seeds

[webfact]

Student faces up to 15-year sentence for selling poppy seeds

By The Nation

 

 

City police have detained a 20-year-old university student for allegedly selling foreign breeds of poppy seeds as well as soil, fertiliser, light and growing manuals to buyers via Facebook.

Police said they would continue to investigate all of the students’ customers.

 

The student was arrested on Sunday in Bang Kae district with 235 poppy seeds, planting equipment contained in five boxes and more poppy seeds in 22 envelopes bearing the names and addresses of customers ready to be posted.

 

Police charged the student, whose name was not revealed, with importing or exporting illicit drugs and possessing drugs with the intent to sell. Poppy seeds contain varying amounts of opiates depending on the breed.

 

Deputy city commissioner Pol Maj-General Ruechakorn Jornjewut said the arrest was made after police found that the suspect had sold the seeds as well as soil and fertiliser via a Facebook page.

 

The student allegedly wrote reviews about the qualifications of each breed of seeds, some of which quoted from foreign websites.

 

He also explained procedures of how to plant the seeds, the proper ratio of fertiliser and soil, how to control the lights and duration before the poppy was ripe, and how to dry the produce in the sun.

 

The student also gave private consultations to his buyers, Ruechakorn said. There were about 15,000 people that he had sent items to by mail.

 

Learning about the sales, police set up a purchase and tested the seeds to prove their authenticity. When the seeds were proved to be real poppy seeds, a police investigation led to the arrest.

 

According to Ruechakorn, the student confessed to the charge, saying that he offered more than 800 breeds of poppy seeds to clients. He ordered the seeds from a foreign website that sent seeds to his house by mail.

 

The deputy commissioner said that police would extend the investigation to all of the student’s customers.

 

The punishment for importing a drug is a maximum jail term of 15 years.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30330877

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-11-06

[Thaiwrath]

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

Police said they would continue to investigate all of the students’ customers.

 

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

There were about 15,000 people that he had sent items to by mail.

That is never going to happen, imagine the WORK that would be involved ! 

[tracker1]

Must have been fun counting poppy seed like counting dust !

[terminatorchiangmai]

Poppy seeds or marijuana seeds ?

[MaeJoMTB]

I'm thinking more .........

[maximillian]

Poopy seeds aren't drugs yet.

[PAIBKK]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The student was arrested on Sunday in Bang Kae district with 235 poppy seeds

At least a double amount of them on the buns that I've got. Risking 15 years of jail now? Thailand, the crazier it gets... T.I.T.

[Oldgumshoe]

What is the penalty for eating bread rolls that have poppy seeds on top?

 

[MaeJoMTB]

27 minutes ago, PAIBKK said:

At least a double amount of them on the buns that I've got. 

You have Opium poppy seeds on your buns?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opium-poppy-seeds_us_59709d98e4b0110cb3cc64ae

Edited November 6, 2017 by MaeJoMTB

[Bill Miller]

11 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

You have Opium poppy seeds on your buns?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opium-poppy-seeds_us_59709d98e4b0110cb3cc64ae

That is a pretty important distinction missing from the story. Even baking type poppy seeds have been reputed to give a positive result on some drug tests. I expect the guy was selling opium poppy seeds.

[MaeJoMTB]

24 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

That is a pretty important distinction missing from the story. ........ I expect the guy was selling opium poppy seeds.

I'm guessing a Thai reporter wouldn't know that.

In a Thai mind Opium seeds = Poppy seeds.

Edited November 6, 2017 by MaeJoMTB

[tonray]

Maybe was doing research for a job at Bread Talk ?

 

[Tchooptip]

1 hour ago, maximillian said:

Poopy seeds aren't drugs yet.

Right, maybe a good lawyer could sell that to the judges? 

[Tchooptip]

1 hour ago, PAIBKK said:

At least a double amount of them on the buns that I've got. Risking 15 years of jail now? Thailand, the crazier it gets... T.I.T.

"235 poppy seeds, planting equipment contained in five boxes" 

 

The coma should not be there because it is 235 planting equipment!

[Beats56]

Where can I get a poppy to wear on my shirt for Remembrance day on Nov 11th. I doubt they have them here. But poppy seed bust OMG what next.

[Si Thea01]

2 hours ago, Oldgumshoe said:

What is the penalty for eating bread rolls that have poppy seeds on top?

 

Indigestion if not eaten slowly. 

[Bill Miller]

2 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

I'm guessing a Thai reporter wouldn't know that.

In a Thai mind Opium seeds = Poppy seeds.

I have done some research, and found that the reporter is correct! There is not a separate species of poppy, Papaver Somniferum, as I had always thought. It is all in the cultivation. Opium per se is the sap which forms in the seed case. not the seeds. There are some varietals that make more, and some that are low producing, but "they're all doing it."

[Oldgumshoe]

8 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

I have done some research, and found that the reporter is correct! There is not a separate species of poppy, Papaver Somniferum, as I had always thought. It is all in the cultivation. Opium per se is the sap which forms in the seed case. not the seeds. There are some varietals that make more, and some that are low producing, but "they're all doing it."

Ah ha so thats why I feel so good after eating a ham, cheese and salad poppy seed roll. Don't spread it around, those poppy seed rolls are hard enough to find as it is.

[Bill Miller]

Yeah, illegal to grow poppies here since 1959.
A quick look revealed the seed is available from one outfit for baking, but they are an import from Turkey, B190 for 100 gms.

[connda]

Heaven help the poor sots who inadvertently eat a poppy seed bun.  Are they busting bakeries yet!  Let's keep filling the jails up.  
"Hey man, what are in in for?"
Doing 15 years for eating a poppy pastries. 

Edited November 6, 2017 by connda

[jollyhangmon]

18 minutes ago, connda said:

Heaven help the poor sots who inadvertently eat a poppy seed bun.  Are they busting bakeries yet!  Let's keep filling the jails up.  
"Hey man, what are in in for?"
Doing 15 years for eating a poppy pastries. 

 

... not just a good one as some morons indeed already staged just that:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7234786.stm

 

... whole article is interesting & might lead to heavy cases of prolonged face-palming, but the 'Heathrow poppy seed bread roll' is specifically mentioned in the last paragraph, unbelievable really ... 

[manhood]

I wont give up eating poppy seeds on my buns, my strudel or whatever

the thais have no idea of wht it is but yes : DRUGS

sometimes i feel like they now just check on drugs, even on 55 seed pieces of poppy seed: I think they took REAL drugs  before

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, connda said:

Heaven help the poor sots who inadvertently eat a poppy seed bun.  Are they busting bakeries yet!  Let's keep filling the jails up.  
"Hey man, what are in in for?"
Doing 15 years for eating a poppy pastries. 

Heaven help the poor sots who actually think that is a possibility.

[Just Weird]

1 hour ago, manhood said:

I wont give up eating poppy seeds on my buns, my strudel or whatever

the thais have no idea of wht it is but yes : DRUGS

sometimes i feel like they now just check on drugs, even on 55 seed pieces of poppy seed: I think they took REAL drugs  before

This is not about eating poppy seeds, it's about a student with a commercial operation selling the seeds to allow customers to cultivate poppies.  That would obviously be for nefarious reasons, if they really only wanted poppy seeds for consumption they could buy them in a supermarket.

 

"...the thais have no idea of wht it is but yes : DRUGS"

Obviously, you have no idea of the (lack of) effects of poppy seeds on your pastries.

[Just Weird]

A lot of posters seem to have missed these substantial, relevant parts of the article...

 

"Police charged the student with importing or exporting illicit drugs and possessing drugs with the intent to sell...

...the suspect had sold the seeds as well as soil and fertiliser via a Facebook page.

He also explained procedures of how to plant the seeds, the proper ratio of fertiliser and soil, how to control the lights and duration before the poppy was ripe, and how to dry the produce in the sun.

 

Nothing at all to do with poppy seeds on bakery items, obviously, but, hey, let's pretend that it is to take the p iss out of Thai authorities.

[MaeJoMTB]

12 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

This is not about eating poppy seeds, it's about a student with a commercial operation selling the seeds to allow customers to cultivate poppies.  That would obviously be for nefarious reasons, if they really only wanted poppy seeds for consumption they could buy them in a supermarket.

 

And here is a sample of the instructions.

"With these seeds you can grow your own Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) plants. Opiates can be extracted from the mature plant."

 

Edited November 6, 2017 by MaeJoMTB

[petedk]

My wife and I bake a lot and we searched for poppy seeds for months to put on our bread. Eventually, found out that I could buy them in Paragon. I had to ask for them as they were hidden away.

 

Anyway, I read a Danish article that if you eat just 30 gm of poppy seed then opiates can be found in your blood the day after. I used to eat a "thebirkes" everyday when I lived there. I must have been addicted.

 

I am sure that I read somewhere that these seeds can be used to grow opium producing poppies and in many countries, that in itself is not illegal.

 

I once asked a good friend to bring some poppy seeds from Denmark, but luckily he forgot. Maybe nothing would have happened if he had been stopped, but I would hate to put someone in that terrible situation.

[anon789561]

23 hours ago, Beats56 said:

Where can I get a poppy to wear on my shirt for Remembrance day on Nov 11th. I doubt they have them here. But poppy seed bust OMG what next.

some pubs have them in bkk. places like molly malones usually have them

[Beats56]

2 hours ago, Happy enough said:

some pubs have them in bkk. places like molly malones usually have them

Thankyou

[Rhys]

Straight from the University Business incubator program..5555