– Officers searched a Pattaya condominium on October 9th and detained Enna, 25, and Oganu, 29.
– They found five taped packets of cocaine, about 6 grams in all, inside the kitchen range hood.
– Enna was in the country illegally and tested positive for drugs. Oganu was on a tourist visa and tested negative.
– Both said they bought the cocaine from a friend near Walking Street for their own use. Police said that account is still being checked.
Pattaya: Chonburi immigration officers arrested two Nigerian men, one who had entered Thailand illegally, in a city-centre condominium in Pattaya on Thursday after finding about 6 grams of cocaine hidden in a kitchen range hood.
The search followed a national police policy meeting the same day, at which Pol. Gen. Samran Nuanma, the national police chief, told forces to press drug cases, nominee arrangements, scam gangs, and corruption. Immigration Commissioner Pol. Lt. Gen. Noppasin Poolsawat and the commander of Immigration Division 3 assigned the job to Pol. Col. Napatsaphong Khositsuriyamanee, superintendent of Chonburi Immigration. Pol. Lt. Col. Kawinwat Arayasuriwong, deputy superintendent, led the team into the building after a tip that Nigerian men were staying there and that one might be in the country illegally and involved with drugs.
Inside were Enna, 25, and Oganu, 29. Officers said Enna had no legal right to be in Thailand. Oganu had entered on a tourist visa. A search of more than 20 minutes turned up five lumps of cocaine in zip bags wrapped in black tape, weighing about 6 grams, inside the range hood. A preliminary urine test indicated drugs in Enna’s system. Oganu’s test was negative.
Both men told officers they had bought the cocaine from an acquaintance near Walking Street and were keeping it to use themselves, not to sell. Immigration said that account is still being examined. The two and the drugs were handed to investigators at Pattaya City Police Station. Officers said they are tracing the supplier.
Cocaine is a Category 1 narcotic in Thailand. Possession is a criminal offence whether or not a sale is proved, and a sale or possession for sale carries a heavier sentence. Six grams is a small seizure next to earlier Pattaya cases that ran to tens of grams, and police have not said this was a dealing network. The condo was not named.