Thai police arrested a Malaysian man and a Thai accomplice in Hat Yai, Songkhla, over an alleged operation producing and selling “zombie” vape pods laced with the medical anaesthetic etomidate.
The arrests were reported yesterday, October 20, following a joint investigation by consumer protection police and Border Patrol Police Unit 437.
Officers had received a tip-off that etomidate-laced vape pods were being sold to teenagers in Hat Yai, with deliveries made by car. Investigators also identified a house in the area suspected of being used to prepare and package the pods.
Police located the vehicle on Rattakan Road in Hat Yai and stopped it for inspection. The driver, identified only as 46 year old Nut, was found carrying 400 vape pods reportedly containing etomidate.
During questioning, Nut told police he had been instructed to deliver the products to customers by a Malaysian man identified as Sam.
Nut then led officers to a rented house on Supasarnrangsan Road, where police found equipment used to mix and fill vape pods. They arrested Sam, aged 51, a Malaysian national, at the property.
The seized items included 201 empty vape pods, 725 end caps, two bags of white plastic mouthpiece caps and six bottles of liquid concentrate labelled “ESSENTAIL OIL”.
Together with the 400 filled pods recovered from the car, police seized more than 1,000 items valued at over 1 million baht.
Police said both men admitted their involvement and explained that another Malaysian national had brought the materials and substances used to prepare the pods from abroad.
Their role was to inject liquid containing etomidate into empty vape pods, seal them and deliver the finished products to customers at arranged locations.
Investigators are now trying to identify the supplier and the person directing the deliveries, as well as others potentially involved in the operation.
Both men were charged over the unauthorised possession of a Category 2 psychotropic substance for sale, along with offences involving illegal e-cigarette sales.
Police warned that etomidate can rapidly depress the central nervous system when inhaled through vape products, causing users to become rigid, stagger or lose consciousness. Some may remain motionless with their eyes open but be unaware of their surroundings, posing serious health risks.
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