PATTAYA, Thailand: Thai police raided a residence in the Pattaya area on Friday, September 25th, and arrested a 42-year-old American national of Chinese descent identified only as Mr. Liu, seizing more than 60 grams of ecstasy and ketamine from a sealed room converted into an illegal drug mixing lab.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Natthasak Chaowanasai, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, ordered the operation. Officers from the Crime Suppression Division worked with Immigration Bureau Division 3 after receiving information from a concerned citizen that Liu had been selling drugs to foreigners in Thailand and abroad.
A court-authorized search found a window-blocked room fitted out as a mixing workspace. On tables were powder and crystal substances, two digital scales, an aluminum mortar and pestle, a heat sealer, laboratory-style beakers and measuring glasses, syringes, and large numbers of 5-by-7-centimeter zip-lock bags. Officers also recovered cutting and flavoring agents commonly used to disguise drugs as snacks or drinks, including caffeine, glucose, sucralose, pineapple flavoring, coffee powder, and milk-flavor powder.
More than 60 grams of light-brown MDMA crystals were hidden in a sink behind the kitchen and inside a safe. Ketamine was also seized.
A search of Liu’s phone found notes with mixing formulas listing ratios of MDMA, ketamine, and caffeine by number of people, plus names and addresses of intended recipients in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
Liu admitted the drugs were his but claimed they were for personal use. Police rejected that account, citing the quantity, laboratory setup, packaging materials, formulas, and overseas contacts. He was charged with possessing Category 1 narcotics (ecstasy) for commercial sale, possessing a Category 2 psychotropic substance (ketamine), and consuming Category 1 narcotics. He was transferred to Nong Prue police station, and investigators said they would pursue possible co-conspirators in Thailand and abroad.
Thai law draws a sharp line between possession for consumption and possession for sale. Under 2024 ministerial regulations, MDMA is presumed to be for personal use only if the amount does not exceed five dosage units or 1,250 milligrams net. Powder or crystal ketamine is presumed for personal use at no more than 500 milligrams. Sixty grams of MDMA is about 48 times that threshold. Packaging gear, flavoring agents, batch formulas, and Malaysian delivery notes further support a commercial case rather than private consumption.
MDMA is a Category 1 narcotic in Thailand, the same class as heroin and methamphetamine. Possession for distribution can bring four years to life in prison and heavy fines; production or trafficking of Category 1 drugs can reach life imprisonment or, in the most serious cases, the death penalty. Ketamine is treated as a Category 2 psychotropic substance, with unauthorized possession and sale also carrying multi-year prison terms. Foreigners convicted of serious drug offenses typically serve their sentence, then face deportation and a long-term or permanent entry ban.
The Nong Prue case fits a string of recent Banglamung investigations into home-based mixing, party-drug supply, and foreign-linked networks.
In February 2026, The Pattaya News team reported that ONCB Region 2, forensic police, immigration, and tourist police inspected a luxury Banglamung residence after finding equipment and chemicals consistent with precursor work for “Happy Water” and ketamine-laced “Pod K” vape liquids. Field tests indicated methamphetamine, ketamine, and MDMA. Two Chinese men at the house, Xu Yunlong and Xu Tianking, said they were paid house-sitters; they were prepared for charges over unauthorized production and possession of Category 1 and Category 2 drugs.
In August 2025, Banglamung officials arrested a Huay Yai dealer known as “Chiang Huay Yai” after a sting. He tried to flush and swallow drugs as officers closed in. The haul included 920 ecstasy pills and 32.47 grams of crystal meth.
In June 2024, Pattaya police arrested Thai dealer Sittichai “Bank” Sapsawat after he left packages of ecstasy, ketamine, and “Happy Five” pills for nightclub supply drops in Soi Thepprasit 7 and near Sukhumvit Pattaya 66. He was charged with possessing Category 1 and Category 2 substances for sale.
Those cases, like Friday’s raid, show how ecstasy and ketamine now move through private houses and rental rooms as well as street-level drops. Flavoring powders, small zip bags, and digital scales keep appearing because the local market often wants party drugs that look like candy, drinks, or vape liquid rather than raw crystals.
The Malaysia addresses in Liu’s notes raise the possibility of a cross-border parcel or courier chain, a route Thai authorities have targeted before in ecstasy and cannabis export cases. The sealed lab, mixing formulas, and cutting agents also invite questions about whether Liu was finishing product for local nightlife customers, preparing outbound shipments, or both.
Police have not released a street-value estimate. Even at modest local prices, more than 60 grams of MDMA plus ketamine, packaging stock, and a dedicated workspace is well beyond a user’s stash. That is why officers treated the house as a production and distribution site rather than a private residence with a small personal supply.
Liu remains in custody pending formal inquiry. Any overseas names in the phone notes are likely to be passed to counterparts in Malaysia as the case expands.