B100 Million In Assets Seized In Phuket Drug Bust

[webfact]

B100 million in assets seized in Phuket drug bust

The drugs and other items seized by police in a

sting operation yesterday.

PHUKET: The Narcotics Crime Suppression Bureau carried out a sting operation in Phuket at 2am yesterday, arresting a man and seizing 2,000 ya bah (methamphetamine) pills, 300,000 baht in cash, weapons, vehicles, gold and land.

The value of the items seized totals more than 100 million baht, according to the Narcotics Crime Suppression Bureau.

The suspect was arrested after a policeman pretended to be a buyer in a meeting at a luxury hotel in Phuket.

The suspect, a 44-year-old Chonburi native, is apparently well known to the police as a dealer in illicit goods, such as CDs and watches.

According to arresting officer Col Suttirat Tojamba,the suspect is now being held in Bangkok and faces a ten-year jail sentence. If, however, he confesses to the crime, that sentence may be reduced to five years.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009/10/26

[pete600]

Seams a light sentence

[sedeflonga]

Wow only 5 years if he confesses? That's not much a punishment in my opinion.

[bunnaag]

Only 5 years?Dealers in a class 1 drug normally get live reduced to 25 years if they confess.But in this case the man has goodies to distribute.About 100 million Bath.

[bman413]

I thought drug dealers / traffickers got life in prison since they abolished the death penalty.

[BlueSmurf]

Agree seems to be a very light sentence. Would a farang get longer? Remembering this is a life distroying drug........

[anon467367354]

so if a foreigner brings a joint into Thailand, or even get caught with remnants in a plastic bag, he gets 99-life. But if a local, well known dealer admits what he does is illegal, he gets 5 years? <deleted>? How is that in compliance with the Thai constitution?

[sedeflonga]

Agree seems to be a very light sentence. Would a farang get longer? Remembering this is a life distroying drug........

That guy had a lot to distribute to the 'community' I would guess. The strange part is that it is common for police to calculate the money/assets divided by howmuch narcotics he must have sold to get that amount of cash. It (should) doesn't matter howmuch pills they found on him. By that account he would get life without much consideration.

Remember Wolfang Ulrich? just google 'wolfgang Ulrich pattaya heroin' were even minsters were bri..oops..contacted

Edited October 26, 2009 by LivinginKata

[BlackJack]

so if he confesses x 2 times then hes free

[mrbp]

10 years REDUCED TO 5 FOR A GUILTY PLEA!!!

Has the Thai government suddenly seen sense and softened their drug policies?

Thats the kind of sentence that drug dealers get in the UK. Its's a fair sentence for a non violent offender, it's not sadistic and draconian.

I thought Thai sentences for non violent drug offences ranged from 99 years to death?

This guy seems to have a table full of guns and bad drugs but he gets a reasonable 10 stretch when non violent offenders are being handed down triple life or the death penalty for nothing more than a handful of ecstacy tablets. What is going on with that??????

Thailands drug laws are crazy, they are so over the top but people are still taking drugs and smuggling so lets face it killing people and incarcerating them in hel_l until they die isn't working.

Lets hope this is the prelude to a softening in the law but something tells me it's NOT.

If it was up to me I would give him a heavy fine and perhaps 5 years for the drugs (especially because ya bah is such an awfully crap drug) and 20 years for the table full of guns but thats just me and I tend to think of violence and the idea of nutters carrying machine guns as a little bit more dangerous to society than drugs.

Maybe thats where I'm going wrong and drugs really are worse than guns and violence. Perhaps Holland should learn that lesson, I'm sure it would be a better place if it opened up a execution chambers and started killing drug dealers and incarcerating weed dealers for triple life.

What was I thinking?

[tommybkk]

5 years seems to be correct. 2000 pills of 120mg is 240g of mixed methamphetamine.

It would be redicilous to sentence someone to life-time in jail for this small amount of methamphetamine.

Edited October 26, 2009 by tommybkk

[loong]

I agree that the statement that he could only face 5 years seems odd for this.

Also, why have they not named the accused? They usually do.

[tomartoh]

Why did they go for him?

Maybe he forgot to pay off those with vested interests.

Maybe this is a lesson for others of similar disposition.

[ryladie99]

Wow?? this is so much money, and I am sure the suspect will confess to the crime. Then this person only spends 5 years in jail..what else??? How many people in the past he sold his drugs to?? How many in jails for robbing people to buy drugs?? How many people dead and lost jobs, friends, and families to drugs?? If we all have Common sense then no one buys then no one sells. How about The Thai legalizes drug for one year? Let's see what happens?? I am sure no one wants drugs no more?? Because, it is no value?? Free stuff is not okay??? Some thing has to have a value?? My take and opinion..

[sedeflonga]

I thought drug dealers / traffickers got life in prison since they abolished the death penalty.

Death sentence was reinstated a few months back. Last month two drug traffickers were executed.

[pedro01]

I don't think the newspaper that reported the bust actually has the right to sentence the guy.

As such - reserve your righteous indignation until the trial, if there is one.

TIT - don't read too much into what's in the newspaper.

[julemanden]

5 years seems to be correct. 2000 pills of 120mg is 240g of mixed methamphetamine.

It would be redicilous to sentence someone to life-time in jail for this small amount of methamphetamine.

Is it ? I think it's fine to send him (and others) to jail for life no matter how little he's selling, then maybe there's a chance of getting rid of all those dam_n drugs who destroying so many peoples life !

But of course he's not getting any more than 5 years, he just paid the BIB 100 mil

[sedeflonga]

5 years seems to be correct. 2000 pills of 120mg is 240g of mixed methamphetamine.

It would be redicilous to sentence someone to life-time in jail for this small amount of methamphetamine.

If the Asssets seized are from drug business (what I think it is) then he should get life. It shouldn't matter howmuch

they found on him 'at that day'. Divide 100m / 500 baht (more or less) and you get 200k pills. Now I think this is enough

to <deleted> up a lot of people. 5 years is not a deterrent at all. It is wrong to have a time of 'overkill' and being overly harsh

to those offenders and then going back to 'overly relaxed' style, like it is right now.

[webfact]

I thought drug dealers / traffickers got life in prison since they abolished the death penalty.

Death sentence was reinstated a few months back. Last month two drug traffickers were executed.

IIRC the death penalty was never abolished in Thailand

[tommybkk]

In my opinion it's the people's fault who buy the drugs. Ofcourse something happened around this guy for the corrupted thai police to get in to him.

I dealed with the thai police for some issues overthere in Phuket and honestly, these people are the worst government officials I met in whole my life.

96% corrupted.

Edited October 26, 2009 by tommybkk

[sawadeeken]

that is just the first estimate of the time he may get........ wait awhile to see if it isn't shown that that is an error or wrongly calculated............. he may get longer or he may walk...... TIT........

[bangkokumpalumpa]

think about this, we all know that if you are caught with that amount then you are going away for a long time, the only way that you are going to get a reduced sentence is if you start to spill the beans!!!

this says to me that he has spilled his guts BIG TIME, and by printing this in the paper it is saying to all that he has spilled his guts, what better way to have him work with the police than to make it known to the underworld that he is talking.

hwy he might not of said a work, but right now everybody is thinking that he has and the safest place for him right now is in police hands, the safest thing to do is work with them right now.

this newspaper artical is a death sentence!!!!!

you got to have something big to trade to only get 5 - 10 years!!!!

so the question is who was he working with or who has he just spilled the beans on!!!

does not sound like he is in a good position right now!!

after all he was known to the police, known for what though???

[mrbp]

5 years seems to be correct. 2000 pills of 120mg is 240g of mixed methamphetamine.

It would be redicilous to sentence someone to life-time in jail for this small amount of methamphetamine.

It's rediculous to sentence anyone to life for drugs full stop.

Of course if they are a violent drug dealer who goes around shooting the opposition and kneecapping debtors then give them life for their violence but non violent offenders getting life for the posession and supply of a drug is an expensive, sadistic waste of money and life.

I understand the thinking behind Thai drug laws, it's the use of state sponsered terror to achieve the impossible and have the only successful prohibition in history.

It's an expensive and cruel folly of epic proportions but it makes sense on paper.

If you do drugs in Thailand and get caught the punishment will be so harsh that it will scare the crap out of anyone else who fancies trying their luck.

To a certain extent it works because I occasionally get high back home and I wouldn't dare out here unless I had enough money to pay my way out of it if I got caught but that doesn't seem to stop everyone else.

Weed is ubiquitous, ya bah is too and the rich Thais and expats don't seem to have any problems sourcing cocaine and ecstacy.

So they have awfully overcrowded prisons at a massive expense in money and misery but drugs are still available.

The only positive effect these draconian laws seem to have is that the select few like me are actually detered from dabbling and there are a few genuinley nasty people who genuinely deserve life in Thailands medieval prison system for violence end up in there for drugs.

But I would be detered by the idea of 5 years in a Thai jail, 99 years is just overkill.

[sedeflonga]

I thought drug dealers / traffickers got life in prison since they abolished the death penalty.

Death sentence was reinstated a few months back. Last month two drug traffickers were executed.

IIRC the death penalty was never abolished in Thailand

Your right. There was a 6 year hiatus before the two men were executed last month, but it was never abolished.

[John1012]

10 years REDUCED TO 5 FOR A GUILTY PLEA!!!

Has the Thai government suddenly seen sense and softened their drug policies?

Thats the kind of sentence that drug dealers get in the UK. Its's a fair sentence for a non violent offender, it's not sadistic and draconian.

I thought Thai sentences for non violent drug offences ranged from 99 years to death?

This guy seems to have a table full of guns and bad drugs but he gets a reasonable 10 stretch when non violent offenders are being handed down triple life or the death penalty for nothing more than a handful of ecstacy tablets. What is going on with that??????

Thailands drug laws are crazy, they are so over the top but people are still taking drugs and smuggling so lets face it killing people and incarcerating them in hel_l until they die isn't working.

Lets hope this is the prelude to a softening in the law but something tells me it's NOT.

If it was up to me I would give him a heavy fine and perhaps 5 years for the drugs (especially because ya bah is such an awfully crap drug) and 20 years for the table full of guns but thats just me and I tend to think of violence and the idea of nutters carrying machine guns as a little bit more dangerous to society than drugs.

Maybe thats where I'm going wrong and drugs really are worse than guns and violence. Perhaps Holland should learn that lesson, I'm sure it would be a better place if it opened up a execution chambers and started killing drug dealers and incarcerating weed dealers for triple life.

What was I thinking?

MrBP, you were not thinking, asdsuming you have an iota of intelligence to be able to arrive at a reasonable conclusion .

HARD drugs cause addiction, addicts need money, many addicts use hard drugs because they have such a sh*t life that they need a buzz, many also have little money, so prostitution, robbery( armed robbery,street crimes, house breakins, car theft etc). I DO HOPE THAT YOU BECOME A VICTIM OF ONE OF THESE DRUG RELATED CRIMES. Then perhaps you will start THINKING of consequencies, and maybe then you will change your attitude. 1 drug dealer, how many addicts? how many victims of the addicts need for finances for more drugs? anyone got any statistics?

Have a safe day MRBP, .

[sedeflonga]

It's rediculous to sentence anyone to life for drugs full stop.

Of course if they are a violent drug dealer who goes around shooting the opposition and kneecapping debtors then give them life for their violence but non violent offenders getting life...etc

Did you see the guns on the table? That alone makes it a 25 to life felony in the US! So why should Thailand be different. As that guy was already known to police, it was not his first time. I am not a fan of the 'three strike law' in the US but there are other countries which go much harder on criminals then Thailand.

[john b good]

Seams a light sentence

2,000 methamphetamines, that's gotta be for supply.

If it was a farang it would be either death or reduced to a 20 - 25 year stretch.

Another blatant example of double standards "and we need more examples like we need a hole in the head"

[jimmy0518]

put him to death.

[pedro01]

Listen you bloody muppets - there has been no sentence.

It's just what the journalist wrote in his piece.

Has there been an IQ ceiling implemented here at Thaivisa for new members or something ???

[webfact]

put him to death.

before the trial or after?