Facebook pot dealers nabbed in Bangkok

[Lite Beer]

Facebook pot dealers nabbed in Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Police have arrested a couple for allegedly selling marijuana on Facebook and seized five kilogrammes of compressed cannabis from their home in Nonthaburi.

Saroj Apaisawet, 26 and Nutcharee Khunprasert, 25, were arrested on Saturday afternoon by officers from Metropolitan Police Bureau Division 9, Manager Online reported.

Seized from the couple were five bars of compressed cannabis weighing about five kilogrammes, a scale and other drug-use paraphernalia, two books containing names of customers, and 200 empty postal parcel boxes.

The arrests followed an investigation into reports that a major dealer had been selling marijuana to customers via a Facebook page called "Original Weed" for more than a year, said Pol Col Pattana Preechanand, the Division 9 investigation chief.

People wanting to buy drugs were asked to send messages to the Facebook inbox. Customers were asked to transfer money to a bank account opened by the owner of the Facebook page. Drugs would then be delivered via registered parcel post.

Police monitoring the online drug trade eventually learned that Mr Saroj and Ms Nutcharee had opened the "Original Weed" page. The couple rented a house at the Chao Phraya 9 housing estate in Bang Yai district of Nonthaburi.

Ms Nutcharee was caught while driving a car to the Bang Yai post office on Saturday. Three parcels containing three bars of compressed cannabis were found in her sedan.

Police took her back to her house and found Mr Saroj resting on the second floor, where more cannabis and other items were seized.

Police said Mr Saroj told them that he and his wife had little education and few job prospects, so they had been supporting themselves by selling drugs online for more than a year. To attract customers, they posed messages "Organic marijuana 100% — will brighten up your lives. Let's try!" on the Original Weed page.

Mr Saroj reportedly told officers that he had bought the drugs from an unidentified woman for 9,000 baht a kilogramme. The woman delivered the drugs to a location in On Nut district of Bangkok after money had been transferred to her account.

He said he sold the drugs in 100-gramme packages for 1,300 baht each.

The couple have been charged with possession of 5th category drugs with the intent to sell. They were handed over to Bang Yai police station for further action.

Police said they would trace the supplier and also those who bought illicit drugs online from the suspects.

Officially, Facebook says it does not allow promotion of drugs including marijuana on its site even in areas where marijuana is legal.

-- Phuket News 2014-11-02

[RustBucket]

Is there to limit to the stupidity of some Thais?

I mean... come on.... Advertising on facebook?

They may as well have set up a stall in the market.

[Bluespunk]

" two books containing names of customers"

Oops.

[NeverSure]

Yes, and paying for them via bank transfer which is easily traced.

[shirtless]

why not put it on a billboard, with your address and contact details.

[Fiddlesticks]

Have to hand it to the keen investigators on the Thai police force. Only took them one year to discover this covert operation! Maybe if the drug dealers had erected a huge sign board next to police station this ring would have been apprehended weeks earlier!

[AGareth2]

they did say they were not smart

amazing it took a year

wonder who their customers were?

[Fiddlesticks]

Is there to limit to the stupidity of some Thais?

I mean... come on.... Advertising on facebook?

They may as well have set up a stall in the market.

BUT . . . you have to wonder why it was a year before they were discovered! Well actually, there is little to wonder about really.

[Tatsujin]

You really have to question the intelligence of some people . . . and everyone that transferred cash to them electronically are <deleted> too . . . kind of sums up the way things are going here now, amazing . . .

[monk213]

hahaha oh wow this brings a whole new meaning to the word 'stupidity' - someone should have told these guys about the deep web and tor

[Tatsujin]

wonder who their customers were?

I'll take a wild stab in the dark and say the customers were people who wanted to buy marijuana . . .

[impulse]

Wow. Local digital nomads....

[Bluespunk]

Got to wonder at FB policing of their site as well.

Show a nipple and its gone in days if not sooner.

But a page selling dope and no one notices for a year.

[eTiMaGo]

so much for supporting SMEs, that was some entrepreneurial spirit, seizing the opportunities of the social media age!

[bendejo]

They hung a sign on their door saying "there are no drugs in this apartment" that put them beyond suspicion of the BiB.

Then they took the sign down and this happens.

[JOC]

"Original Weed"

How can you not love this country??

[Crazy chef 1]

Have to hand it to the keen investigators on the Thai police force. Only took them one year to discover this covert operation! Maybe if the drug dealers had erected a huge sign board next to police station this ring would have been apprehended weeks earlier!

no it wouldn't, because than some people in brown uniforms would got their share and it would be "legal" not discovered...

[Commerce]

Not the brightest of bulbs... in fact probably running on 10 Watts.

However, the dim light runs all the way from this tier of brightenss through to the current very top, with considerable similarities in brightness, or dimness as the case may be.

[gerry123]

Wow. Local digital nomads....

Wow. Local digital nomads.... nobrains would be better suited

[kannot]

hahaha oh wow this brings a whole new meaning to the word 'stupidity' - someone should have told these guys about the deep web and tor

The real stupidity is banning cannabis

[NongKhaiKid]

Is there to limit to the stupidity of some Thais?

I mean... come on.... Advertising on facebook?

They may as well have set up a stall in the market.

Was it last year a woman used social media to try and hire someone to kill for her ?

[Lupatria]

" two books containing names of customers"

Oops.

There might be a couple more apartments for rent in the near future.

he and his wife had little education and few job prospects...

It is not really surprising no one would give them a job if they also proved to be dead stupid in job interviews.

[JOC]

Is there to limit to the stupidity of some Thais?

I mean... come on.... Advertising on facebook?

They may as well have set up a stall in the market.

Was it last year a woman used social media to try and hire someone to kill for her ?

That is only part of Thainess, whereas a "dangerous" drug as weed...............................

[jcisco]

Really on facebook, and linked via a bank account and send via the mail.... could not of made it any more easier to track them. Probably made no attempts to make it hard to find them, police probably nailed this one in a day maximum.

Feel sorry for the couple, done in for selling ganja, real kingpins and life destroyers, may they get wise in jail, On that note, they will be with company since their customers are probably going for a holiday too.

[jaapfries]

Oh; and it's not as if they were getting "rich" off this scheme; Gross-Profit of Bt. 4,000.- per Kg ? ? ? ? ? OMG; how many years will they have to spend in jail ? ? ? ?

[CMCMANGOMAN]

Can't hardly blame these people.

They are simply a product of their product.

The police however...

[Thakkar]

Finally, a good reason to join Facebook. Too bad the reason is illegal.

Sigh.

T

[monk213]

hahaha oh wow this brings a whole new meaning to the word 'stupidity' - someone should have told these guys about the deep web and tor

The real stupidity is banning cannabis

hear hear

[thesetat2013]

To think with only "little education" they outsmarted the BIB for a whole year. I guess that says it all!

[lvr181]

OMG - how stupid can some people be? We now live in an electronic age of NO privacy with social media - when will people, criminal or otherwise, ever learn?