PHUKET — Local police have arrested three Nigerian nationals in two separate cases involving reckless driving and drug-related offenses, authorities announced Wednesday.
In the first incident on the night of March 11, Phuket City Police received reports of a Mazda car being driven recklessly, spinning in circles at traffic lights from Koh Kaew to Darasamut intersection. Thalang traffic officers pursued the vehicle but were initially unable to apprehend it as it sped along Chaloem Phra Kiat Rama 9 Bypass Road toward Central Junction.
Police eventually located the car in a dead-end alley near an ancient house in Nanachat Soi 2. Two shirtless men wearing only shorts fled into dense undergrowth but were captured after a physical struggle that left both suspects and officers with minor injuries.
The suspects appeared intoxicated and were uncooperative, unable to communicate in English despite police using translation applications. Due to the late hour, interpreters could not be found immediately. The men were taken to Phuket City Police Station for processing, where they continued singing throughout the procedure.
One suspect was later identified as Mr. George, a Nigerian national wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court on August 21, 2023, for overstaying his visa and possession of Category 2 narcotics (cocaine). The second suspect remains unidentified as he had no passport documentation.
In a separate case, police apprehended a Nigerian man following an investigation that began after the viral arrest of a Swiss tourist caught using drugs in public on March 9. The tourist, identified only as Mr. Sascha, voluntarily entered drug rehabilitation and provided information to Kamala Police about his drug supplier.
Sascha implicated a 32-year-old Nigerian national named Mbanaso, claiming he had purchased cocaine from him multiple times through WhatsApp, with payments made via bank transfers.
On March 10, police conducted a sting operation and arrested Mbanaso at the entrance of Kamala Police Station at 9:40 p.m. with 0.82 grams of cocaine. He faces charges of distributing Category 2 narcotics, which carries penalties of up to two years imprisonment, a fine not exceeding 40,000 baht, or both.
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