Police have raided an e-cigarette shop in Surat Thani which allegedly had a monthly turnover of one million baht and two warehouses in Nonthaburi where e-cigarettes worth 20 million baht were seized.
Surat Thani governor Jetsada Jitrat told assistant governor Pol Lt Somchai Rueangchan on Sunday night to lead a team of officers in raiding a commercial building in tambon Makham Tia in Surat Thani's Muang district where an e-cigarette shop was located.
A man found working in the shop, Thatthon Liusakul, 31, was arrested, and more then 100,000 baht's worth of e-cigarettes and vaping paraphernalia were seized. The officers also found cannabis products, including 46 joints and 500 grammes of dried cannabis, on the premises.
Mr Thatthon, who said he had been working at the shop for about two months, said the shop makes up to 40,000 baht daily in sales, or more than a million baht per month.
Regarding the cannabis products, he said they belonged to someone else and that the shop was paid by the owner to store them.
According to Pol Lt Somchai, the raid came after authorities were tipped off to an illegal e-cigarette business selling to young customers near two universities.
He said the e-cigarette shop was the biggest retail outlet to be raided in Surat Thani in years.
Meanwhile, in Nonthaburi, two other raids led by assistant national police chief Lt Gen Nirundorn Luamsri were carried out on two warehouses storing e-cigarettes in tambon Khlong Khoi of Pak Kret district on Saturday.
About 70,000 e-cigarettes worth around 20 million baht, were seized according to Lt Gen Nirundorn.