Speaking at a press conference held at Phuket Provincial Hall, Gen Rungrote told the press that he had Phuket Provincial Police had ordered officers to “continuously search for and arrest criminals”.
The news today follows more than 480 police, military officers and volunteers assembling at Phuket City Police Station last Tuesday (Nov 5) to receive the order from Region 8 Police Deputy Commander Maj Gen Teeraphol Thipjaroen to ramp up their efforts ahead of the upcoming Loy Krathong Festival.
Gen Rungrote today said that from Nov 1-10, officers had pressed charges against suspects in 209 cases involving illegal drugs, leading to one car being seized, along with 36 suspects arrested in outstanding cases.
Gen Rungrote did not specify how many suspects were arrested for drugs, how much drugs, or of what type, were seized in the 10 days.
However, Gen Rungrote noted that 86 cases involved suspects carrying knives, while 19 cases involved firearms, 14 guns and a variety of ammunition seized.
Three cases involved football gambling, and 15 cases involved entertainment venues staying open past their legal trading hours.
Gen Rungrote pointed out one case, in which officers on Saturday (Nov 9) arrested Nanthasak “Por” Phadermphon, 26, and Nutthakarn “Jaen” Maneerat, 21, with 103.85 grams of crystal meth (ya ice), 830 methamphetamine pills (ya bah), 1.7kg of kratom leaves and a homemade gun.
Nanthasak confessed that he and Nutthakan worked together, and money received from selling drugs was handed over to 19-year-old Akkanee Phansuwan.
“All Provincial Police will protect people, arrest criminals, and make Phuket safe as best as we can,” Gen Rungrote said.