Consumer Protection Police seized e-cigarettes in Bang Na area, worth over 10 million baht, linked to Chinese gangs.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Nirandorn Leumsri, Assistant Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, along with Pol. Col. Anuwat Rakcharoen, Deputy Commander of the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD), jointly announced the operation to raid an e-cigarette warehouse inside a commercial building on Ramkhamhaeng 2 Road, Soi 10, Dokmai Subdistrict, Prawet District. Officers from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), the Tobacco Authority of Thailand, and the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, also joined the search of the e-cigarette warehouse.
Following the investigation by the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) online, it was discovered that there was a shop selling e-cigarettes and equipment on both an online website and Facebook page with tens of thousands of members. The police followed the situation and found out that the suspect would use a method of d
elivering products to avoid being searched by the authorities by hiring someone to pick up the products and deliver them to a private shipping company. The delivery would be arranged at around 2:00-5:00 a.m. every day, with an uncertain meeting location. Along the way, the suspect would secretly change vehicles to deceive. The average sales volume was 200-300 boxes per day. In addition, when the products were brought to the warehouse, the police would secretly change vehicles along the way. The police therefore requested a search warrant one day in advance and planned to make an arrest on the night of October 8 and continuing into the morning of October 9 at around 3:00 a.m. while the suspect was delivering products to the employer to deliver to customers on Ramkhamhaeng Road 2, Soi 33. Two Thai suspects were arrested, who were direct distributors and warehouses of e-cigarettes.
Later, the arresting team took the suspect to search the warehouse this morning on Ramkhamhaeng Road 2, Soi 10, where two apartment
units had been converted into a warehouse. The evidence found was various types of e-cigarettes, along with e-cigarette liquids and related equipment totaling more than 30,000 pieces, with a combined value of more than 10 million baht. It was found that most of the e-cigarette equipment had beautiful designs and sweet flavors to attract consumers, especially teenagers.
From the investigation, the suspect confessed that he had been secretly operating an e-cigarette warehouse business for over a year. He ordered these e-cigarettes from Chinese traders to sell online and then stored them in the warehouse while waiting for orders. Initially, the suspect was sent to the Consumer Protection Police Division for legal proceedings. He was charged with selling products that the Consumer Protection Board had ordered to be banned (e-cigarettes and e-cigarette liquids), which is an offense under the Consumer Protection Act B.E. 2522, in conjunction with the Consumer Protection Board Order No. 24/2567 dated July 8, 2567,
and with helping to conceal, help to sell, purchase, pawn or receive in any way, which he knew was an offense under the Customs Act.
In addition, the Consumer Protection Police Division will continue to investigate and expand the source of these cigarettes, including the route of smuggling cigarettes, which is expected to come by boat. As for the warehouse, it is rented in a commercial building, which is known to belong to a juristic person, for 12,000 baht per month. Further investigation will be conducted to determine whether the juristic person who owns the commercial building project is aware of or involved in the smuggling of e-cigarettes.
Dr. Chayanan Sittibut, Director of the Tobacco Product Control Board, Department of Disease Control, stated that it is expected that this operation aims to sell to students because the warehouse is near an educational institution in the Ramkhamhaeng 2 area and the seized e-cigarettes have beautiful designs and colors that attract teenagers. Therefore, he would like t
o inform that e-cigarettes are currently spreading among teenagers and young adults, including children, which is a social threat and causes great harm due to the misconception that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes. He confirmed that e-cigarettes are more harmful than regular cigarettes, especially the higher concentration of nicotine, which affects memory and brain function. He also asked all shipping companies to help inspect their products. If they are e-cigarettes, please refrain from sending them because otherwise, they will be in violation of the law.
Source: Thai News Agency