American tourist, 42, arrested for 'running secret ecstasy lab inside home'
An American tourist was arrested for allegedly running a secret ecstasy lab inside his home in southern Thailand.
Liu, 42, of American and Chinese descent, reportedly manufactured drugs in his home lab before selling the narcotics to customers in neighbouring Malaysia.
The Consumer Protection Police Division coordinated with Immigration Division 3 to raid his house in 'Sin City' Pattaya, following reports that Liu was a suspected drug dealer with clients both locally and abroad.
Footage shows police storming the property on September 26, where they found Liu wearing only boxer shorts.
During the search, officers discovered a hidden room inside the house that had reportedly been converted into a drug lab, with its windows completely sealed shut.
Cops seized several suspicious items in both powder and crystalline forms.
Police seized more than 60g of MDMA, along with drug-processing and packaging equipment including digital scales, a mortar and pestle, a heat-sealing machine, glassware, syringes and numerous zip-lock bags.
They also found caffeine, glucose, sucralose, pineapple flavouring, coffee powder and milk-flavoured powder, allegedly used to adulterate and disguise the drugs.
Investigators said Liu kept recipes detailing specific proportions of MDMA, ketamine, and caffeine on his phone.
They also found a list of recipient names and delivery addresses in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Liu allegedly confessed that all of the seized evidence belonged to him but claimed it was only for personal consumption and not distribution.
Police Major General Kongkrit Lertsitthikun, commander of the Consumer Protection Police Division, said officers do not believe his claims.
He said: ‘The evidence and volume of seized narcotics lead us to believe that he was involved in possessing them for distribution.
‘We charged him with distribution of Category 1 narcotics by possessing them for commercial distribution, possession of Category 2 psychotropic substances, and consumption of Category 1 narcotics.
‘The suspect and seized items were handed over to the inquiry officer of Nong Prue Police Station for further legal action and to expand the investigation to track down network accomplices both domestically and internationally.'
Thailand has become a notorious hub for drug use, production, and trafficking. In the north of the country, the ‘Golden Triangle' area shares borders with Laos and Myanmar, and has produced large amounts of opium since the 1950s but focus in recent years has shifted to the more profitable methamphetamine.
Officials believe most of the meth is produced in the Shan State of Myanmar before being distributed through neighbouring countries where prices are higher before ending up in the most expensive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.
However, cracking down on drug production has been complicated by the influx of crime gangs from China and the Burmese civil war, which has seen the army take over the country - along with control of lucrative drugs chains.
