Singaporean man in Thailand nabbed for being part of illegal vape network

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean man was part of a group arrested in Bangkok for selling drug-laced electronic cigarettes, amassing nearly 16 million baht (S$627,000) in suspected ill-gotten gains, said the police in Thailand.

The 37-year-old Singaporean man, identified by the police as Neo Ming Loon, was among six suspects arrested on April 30.

Evidence, including vaping equipment and cash, was also seized in two raids – one at a house in the Bangkok subdistrict of Din Daeng, the other at an apartment in Pathum Thani province north of the Thai capital.

The Royal Thai Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) said in a statement on May 2 that they had received a report about smuggled e-cigarettes or vapes that were mixed with narcotics like ketamine and hawked as “Kpods” to tourists.

Suspicions were partially confirmed when an undercover officer managed to purchase a vape for around 2,500 baht from one of the suspects described as a low-level dealer, said the police.

Investigations found that etomidate, a substance commonly used as a medical anaesthetic, and not ketamine, had been mixed into the vape pods.

The vapes, also known as “zombie cigarettes”, act as depressants on the nervous system and can cause unconsciousness, heart failure and even death if inhaled in large quantities, said the CIB.

Neo and two Thai nationals – Phanuwat Eiatthongdam and Siwaporn Paiplod – were found to be supplying the vapes to the low-level dealers.

One of the dealers, who also acted as a middleman, was 33-year-old Thai national Nattapol Boontham, whom the police estimated to have earned more than 25 million baht from vape sales within the past year.

According to the police, as cited by Thai newspaper Thairath, Nattapol said customers would contact him to buy the vapes he obtained from Neo, a friend he met at