Nigerian caught selling drugs in Thai hospital lot

Thailand map. Photo Credit: BBC

A Nigerian national, whose name has not been disclosed, is under police investigation in Thailand after he was allegedly caught selling drugs in the parking lot of a hospital in Phuket, Southern Thailand.

PUNCH Metro first learnt of the arrest on Monday through an online report published by the Bangkok Post on Thursday.

According to the report, the suspect was apprehended by the police inside the parking area of Patong Hospital in Phuket on Wednesday.

“Police arrested a Nigerian man on a charge of selling cocaine in the parking lot at Patong Hospital in Phuket on Wednesday.

“The suspect was caught in a sting operation that led to his immediate arrest,” the report stated.

The publication added that officers recovered two small packets of cocaine weighing a total of 1.10 grams, which had been purchased for 6,000 baht (about N269,223) during the undercover operation.

“The suspect was charged with the unauthorised sale of a category 2 drug (cocaine). He was not named.

He was being held in police custody for further investigation and legal action,” it added.

Findings by PUNCH Metro from Siam Legal website, a Thailand-based law firm, show that under Thai criminal law on drug offences, the Nigerian suspect could face “from 2–10 years’ imprisonment or a fine of 40,000–200,000 baht, or both, for disposal or possession for the purpose of disposal. If the quantity is over 10 kilograms, the penalty increases to a maximum of 15 years and a fine of 200,000–1,500,000 baht.”

This is not the first time a Nigerian has been arrested for drug-related offences in Thailand.

In October, another Nigerian was nabbed by the Thai police for alleged drug trafficking following a nightclub raid in Ratchaprarop, Bangkok.

According to an earlier PUNCH Metro report, the suspect was arrested in the early hours of Saturday after officers from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Insee 19-69 unit stormed a nightclub in the Ratchathewi district.