Immigration Bureau police arrested five Vietnamese nationals in Bangkok’s Pratunam area yesterday, October 24, and seized 3,200 K-pods, vape pods that tested positive for the anaesthetic etomidate.
Officers from Immigration Division 1 had been targeting a Vietnamese man nicknamed Suea, who police said sells K-pods in the capital.
An undercover informant arranged to buy about 3,000 pods from Suea, with the handover set for a condominium in Pratunam. Police said each pod sells for about 1,500 baht on the market, putting the total at more than 5 million baht (US$148,000).
Suea arrived early in the evening with two other Vietnamese men. He then called fellow gang members to ride motorcycles to the area, and two more men arrived with the pods to show the informant.
Once the informant confirmed the pods were genuine, officers waiting nearby moved in and arrested all five.
A preliminary test kit detected etomidate, a category 2 psychotropic substance, in the pods. The suspects were charged with jointly producing, importing, exporting, selling or possessing a category 2 psychotropic substance without permission.
Penalties range from one to 15 years in prison and fines of 100,000 to 1.5 million baht.
Police then took the suspects to the hotel room they were staying in, also in Pratunam. Inside, officers found equipment for mixing vape liquid, chemical precursors including etomidate, and a large amount of tools used to make the pods.
Police believe the gang used the room to produce K-pods and distribute them across Bangkok. All items were seized, and the suspects were handed to investigators.
Etomidate is a fast-acting anaesthetic injected into the bloodstream, used in hospitals to put patients under before surgery. It has been smuggled into vape liquid and is known as zombie vapes. The Immigration Bureau warned that it can cause serious harm to the brain and body.
The bureau also reminded the public that selling drugs, sheltering or helping foreigners who break the law, and violating immigration rules can all carry penalties.
Residents, business owners, hotel operators and landlords were asked to watch for suspicious foreigners, such as people with unusual comings and goings or links to drugs. Tips can be reported to the Immigration Bureau hotline on 1178.
In similar news:
- Thai kindergartners as young as 5 are buying toy-like vapes from classmates
- Vaping in Thailand – everything you need to know
The story Immigration police bust K-pod factory in Bangkok hotel room as seen on Thaiger News.