E-cigarette drug ring busted in Bangkok: Meth-infused vapes

[webfact]

 

Thai authorities announced the capture of an international drug ring after a dramatic raid on several Bangkok condominiums on Thursday. The Thai Special Service Division (SSD) and other agencies revealed their findings in a high-profile press conference.

 

According to the SSD, the operation targeted a criminal network distributing modified e-cigarettes laced with methamphetamine and other dangerous substances. The investigation began after reports emerged of Pod K e-cigarettes being sold at entertainment venues across  Bangkok. These e-cigarettes, marketed on online platforms for 4,000 baht each, contained methamphetamine, heroin, happy water, and other illicit drugs.

 

The SSD, in collaboration with multiple agencies, traced the distribution source to a condominium in the upscale Thonglor area. SSD officers swooped in on Wednesday, arresting two suspects: Jayden, a Singaporean national, and Ketdao, a Thai national. The pair was found in possession of a substantial stash of drug-infused e-cigarettes.

Following this breakthrough, the investigation led officers to another condominium in the Rama 9 area, where they apprehended two additional suspects: Maria, a Philippine national, and Joel, a Singaporean national, reported Pattaya News.

All four suspects were swiftly escorted to Makkasan police station for further legal proceedings.

 

 

In related news, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya authorities cracked down on the sale of vapes near schools, seizing 1.6 million baht worth of products. Led by the Consumer Protection Committee, the operation aims to protect public health, particularly children, from the dangers of nicotine addiction.

 

The Secretary-General of the Consumer Protection Committee Thosarat Thanitiphan assigned a special operation centre led by the Director of the Consumer Protection Board (CPB) Lertsak Raktham, to act as the Deputy Director of the Special Operations Center, targeting the unregulated sales of electronic cigarettes.

 

In other news, the Customs Department of Thailand imposed a hefty fine on e-cigarette importers, now demanding double the item’s value plus tax in an attempt to curb the increasing sales among the public, particularly the youth.

 

by Top 

Photo courtesy of Pattaya News

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2024-05-18

 

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[newbee2022]

That was to be expected. Therefore it is the right and lawful step to get all e-cigarettes and vaping devices off the market. Those who don't follow the law should be fined up to be imprisoned. Including law resisting farangs!!!🙏🙏🙏

[Korat Kiwi]

Wow, this sounds like real nasty stuff.  Vapes I can understand but laced with meth!  Just bloody dangerous. 

 

Lockem up danno and throw away the key. 

[AhFarangJa]

I had to look up "Happy Water".......Jeez, it sounds lethal, but apparently is on the rise in  South East Asia............."Caffeine, diazepam, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine and tramadol reportedly compose the superdrug"

[hotchilli]

22 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

I had to look up "Happy Water".......Jeez, it sounds lethal, but apparently is on the rise in  South East Asia............."Caffeine, diazepam, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine and tramadol reportedly compose the superdrug"

Thailands youth love affair with drugs....

[RJRS1301]

23 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Thailands youth love affair with drugs....

It is adults who compound, cook and distribute the <deleted> 

 

[PETERTHEEATER]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

.......the Customs Department of Thailand imposed a hefty fine on e-cigarette importers, now demanding double the item’s value plus tax.....

Er.....The law says that these products are illegal. Why then are the Customs not seizing detected imports and taking legal action against the importers? This report implies they can be imported provided the duty and tax is paid. 🤔

[QPRFC]

Yet another reason to legalise them and import via proper channels ! 

[spidermike007]

One has to be completely out of touch with reality, to buy these cigarettes, without having any idea which drugs they contain. 

 

When I was younger I tried all sorts of drugs. Even though some of my friends were doing it, I avoided cocaine and heroin. Life seemed complicated enough, without an overdose or an addiction. 

 

I did try cocaine twice. And found it to be the most over rated drug on the planet. I saw some friends high on heroin. It looked like the most boring drug on the planet, and seems to be all about numbing unprocessed mental pain. 

[newbee2022]

1 hour ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Er.....The law says that these products are illegal. Why then are the Customs not seizing detected imports and taking legal action against the importers? This report implies they can be imported provided the duty and tax is paid. 🤔

No

[sambum]

"In related news, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya authorities cracked down on the sale of vapes near schools, seizing 1.6 million baht worth of products. Led by the Consumer Protection Committee, the operation aims to protect public health, particularly children, from the dangers of nicotine addiction."

 

I thought "vapes" were used by people to escape from the dangers of nicotibne addiction?

[bubblegum]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

One has to be completely out of touch with reality, to buy these cigarettes, without having any idea which drugs they contain. 

 

When I was younger I tried all sorts of drugs. Even though some of my friends were doing it, I avoided cocaine and heroin. Life seemed complicated enough, without an overdose or an addiction. 

 

I did try cocaine twice. And found it to be the most over rated drug on the planet. I saw some friends high on heroin. It looked like the most boring drug on the planet, and seems to be all about numbing unprocessed mental pain. 

What you snorted 1 line and now you're an expert? BTW looking at a friend getting hight does not mean you know a thing about it.

[Trip Hop]

Strange this as a quick search of the internet reveals that whilst drugs like THC and Ketamine can be fairly easily added to a vape, meth & heroin are not really possible due to the high temperatures needed?  Easy solution is to legalise and license proper vapes so that they can be controlled and only sold by reputable vendors, then just confiscate the rest.  Vapes have been around in the UK for over 10 years and whilst there are some reports of them being laced with THC and Spice, it's not something that has really hit the headlines. 

[kidneyw]

6 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

I had to look up "Happy Water".......Jeez, it sounds lethal, but apparently is on the rise in  South East Asia............."Caffeine, diazepam, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine and tramadol reportedly compose the superdrug"

And here was me thinking Happy Water was Chang. What a dinasaur.

[bananafish]

5 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Er.....The law says that these products are illegal. Why then are the Customs not seizing detected imports and taking legal action against the importers? This report implies they can be imported provided the duty and tax is paid. 🤔

I believe they do seize the contraband and fine those importing it, what I assume they're talking about now is upping the amount they get fined. 

[spidermike007]

5 hours ago, bubblegum said:

What you snorted 1 line and now you're an expert? BTW looking at a friend getting hight does not mean you know a thing about it.

Believe me I was an expert on drugs, I tried virtually everything including well over a hundred LSD trips, mesculine, peyote, psilocybin, speed and quite a few downers. Never really like the downers and when my friend got high on heroin at my kitchen table when I was 14, and he passed out for an hour, it just didn't look like much fun to me. Unless you love the feeling of being numb. 

[Jonathan Swift]

10 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Thailands youth love affair with drugs....

And the youth of other countries don't do this? All youth everywhere have always done this all the way back to when these substances first appeared. 

[roamer]

15 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

I had to look up "Happy Water".......Jeez, it sounds lethal, but apparently is on the rise in  South East Asia............."Caffeine, diazepam, ketamine, MDMA (ecstasy), methamphetamine and tramadol reportedly compose the superdrug"

 Seriously 🤔. That would have confused me back in the day, I wouldn't have known if the elevator was going up or down.

[Zack61]

Nip it in the bud. There is no up side to vapes of any kind. It is fast becoming the new entry level platform for nicotine (and other) products. By adding flavours and other things, it is primarily designed to hook young people into using them under the illusion of being cool. These marketers are driven by greed and have no regard for health issues and focus on entrapping the undeveloped minds of our youth to become the life long consumers of their products. Let’s not kid ourselves that they’re the healthy alternative to cigarettes. This is far from the truth. 

[RonJr]

17 hours ago, newbee2022 said:

That was to be expected. Therefore it is the right and lawful step to get all e-cigarettes and vaping devices off the market. Those who don't follow the law should be fined up to be imprisoned. Including law resisting farangs!!!🙏🙏🙏

I'm sure you have read all those studies in which the thousands of carcinogens invade your lung tissue causing cancer vs low levels of nicotine in a vape with zero carcinogens. 

 

However I did see that they published "the dangers of nicotine" because vapes don't have the cancer killing chemically sprayed leaves 

 

[RonJr]

1 hour ago, roamer said:

 Seriously 🤔. That would have confused me back in the day, I wouldn't have known if the elevator was going up or down.

On my to do list next time im in bkk

 

[NobbyClarke]

E cigs safer than dope if correct.

[Butts]

14 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

seems to be all about numbing unprocessed mental pain. 

Best explanation ever Mike- Mostly mentally healthy folk dont want to wipe them self's in to failure.

Abuse is a symptom, self love is the cure.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

And the youth of other countries don't do this? All youth everywhere have always done this all the way back to when these substances first appeared. 

I was confining my reply to Thailand.... the rest of the world does what it does.

[newbee2022]

2 hours ago, RonJr said:

I'm sure you have read all those studies in which the thousands of carcinogens invade your lung tissue causing cancer vs low levels of nicotine in a vape with zero carcinogens. 

 

However I did see that they published "the dangers of nicotine" because vapes don't have the cancer killing chemically sprayed leaves 

 

You're joking, aren't you?

[gargamon]

7 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

You're joking, aren't you?

Not joking, just stupid.

[Irish star]

Wait til they get back to Singapore lol

[brianthainess]

On 5/18/2024 at 11:14 AM, webfact said:

All four suspects were swiftly escorted to Makkasan police station for further legal proceedings.

They could have used a car.. .. it makes it sound like they linked arms. 

[Shorthalfhead]

Maybe it was in a Ford Escort

[Sydebolle]

Tax the stuff like booze and tobacco cigarettes and get on with it ........ next please!