CHON BURI: An American man has been arrested for illegally selling growth hormone products in Pattaya.
Jerry Robert Nielsen, 66, was detained at a downtown bakery in tambon Nong Prue of Bang Lamuang district around 5.30am on Friday by police and Chon Buri public health officials, led by Pol Col Dulyaphat Techayasin.
They also seized 10 boxes labelled Ansomone, a human growth hormone product.
The arrest came after a police agent expressed interest in buying muscle hormone products at an agreed price of 75,000 baht. The suspect was asked to deliver the products at the shop, where he was subsequently caught.
Police then executed a search warrant at his condominium room on soi Kasetsin in tambon Nong Prue, but found nothing illegal there. They seized bank account books and other documents relating to ownership of motorcycles and cars. They would check whether he had acquired those assets legally or not.
His detention following the earlier arrest of a foreign national and seizure of muscle building hormone products bearing the brandname Atlas in Chiang Mai on Feb 23 this year. The products had no FDA labels.
That led to the eventual arrest of Mr Nielsen in Pattaya.
After the arrest of his supplier in Chiang Mai, the American had allegedly purchased growth hormone products with no FDA approval from Hong Kong, and declared them as food supplements. They were sold to his customers, mostly foreign nationals into body building or who had muscle pains, according to police.
Mr Nielsen allegedly used the profits to buy motorcycles he rented out to foreign visitors in Pattaya, doing business worth about 500,000 baht a month.