A male suspect has been arrested for selling electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) online and delivering them directly to students. Police also seized evidence valued at around one million baht.
Pol Maj Gen Witthaya Sriprasertpap, Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) commander, on Friday assigned CPPD Sub-Division 1 superintendent Kraiwit Saentaweesuk and officers to arrest a suspected e-cigarette seller, Jirapong (surname withheld), 23, from Phetchaburi at his dorm room in Nakhon Pathom's Kamphaeng Saen district.
Inside the suspect's room, 7,600 pieces of vaping equipment worth around one million baht were seized. They included closed system pods, e-liquid bottles and disposable e-cigarettes.
The arrest came after CPPD Sub-Division 1 officers were dispatched to hunt down illegal e-cigarette businesses targeting students.
They discovered a Line app chat room called "Vape Zone KPS V2", where sales and purchases of e-cigarettes were being made.
Many school and university students were invited to join the Line group. The vendor advertised products and offered discounts and door-to-door deliveries.
The name of the group was frequently changed in a bid to evade the police.
The officers learned the owner of the group was an engineering graduate who opened the e-cigarette business targeting young customers.
He kept his products in his dorm room near a university in Nakhon Pathom.
The officers requested a search warrant from Nakhon Pathom Provincial Court. The court issued the warrant Tuesday, allowing officers to raid the dorm where Mr Jirapong and the e-cigarettes were found.
He was initially charged with illegally selling e-cigarettes and e-liquids.