Three people have been charged with selling a large quantity of overpriced face masks and fake sanitiser gel in Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan, according to Provincial Police Region 1.
Police said they have arrested a woman by the name of Thitiporn Sirichai with 11,745 face masks in her possession at a housing estate in Phasi Charoen district of Bangkok. She was charged with selling the masks at an inflated price of 12 baht per piece, way higher than the state-controlled price of 2.5 baht each.
The woman said she received the masks from a supplier in Pathum Thani. Police raided a warehouse in Thanyaburi district and found 138,000 masks worth 1.6 million baht there. The warehouse belongs to Banpote Kaewwaree.
Some of the masks have also been sold at inflated prices through a website, according to police.
Mr Banpote told police he had more masks which were hidden in a container truck owned by Anat Khunchai. Mr Anat said he was hired by a man called Fey to deliver the masks to the warehouse.
In Samut Prakan, police nabbed a man who allegedly sold substandard alcohol gel through his Facebook.
Charnchai Wathichanont has been charged with advertising and selling alcohol products without permission. He was arrested at his home in Muang district of Samut Prakan with plastic tubs containing 617 litres of the gel marked with a label "70% alcohol". However, police said the product was of a substandard quality.
Mr Charnchai allegedly admitted he was not licensed to advertise or sell the alcohol products.