Police yesterday arrested a Chinese national for harvesting large quantities of organic marijuana at a warehouse in Bangkok for online sale.
The suspect, Wu Ding Bin, 41, is accused of belonging to a Chinese gang that harvested foreign strains of cannabis at a rented warehouse on Soi On Nut 82 in Prawet district.
Police say he sold the marijuana online for recreational use and delivered it to customers.
"Foreign strains of marijuana are priced at 700,000 baht per kilogramme," Pol Lt Gen Pakapong Pongpetra, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, told media yesterday.
The suspect had visited Thailand in 2018 and left, only to return on a student visa, claiming he was learning Muay Thai.
The suspect was arrested yesterday at an apartment in Soi Ramkhamhaeng 24/3.
On the same day, police took Mr Wu to the warehouse in On Nut, where they found approximately 1,000 marijuana plants.
While CCTV footage showed Mr Wu regularly frequented the premises, he denied involvement in the marijuana operation, saying he worked as an electrician.
The air-conditioned warehouse was reportedly lit up around the clock.
The electricity bill averaged 70,000-100,000 baht a month, while the monthly rent on the warehouse was 40,000 baht.
The arrest resulted from information provided by a Hong Kong citizen who was also arrested for harvesting cannabis for online sale.
On May 3, police arrested that suspect, Ma Ho Yin, 63, at an apartment in Soi Ramkhamhaeng 27.
Police seized one kilogramme of marijuana and 1,000 marijuana plants Mr Ma allegedly had been cultivating in a nearby 4-storey building.
Police are still on the lookout for other accomplices.
