PATTAYA — A 42-year-old German man who operated a beer bar and sports club in Pattaya for over four years has been arrested for using his business as a front for cocaine trafficking while carrying illegal firearms.
Following extensive surveillance of Maik, the German suspect, Pattaya Police collaborated with narcotics officers to conduct an undercover drug purchase operation. They arranged to buy 2 grams of cocaine for 5,000 baht (approximately $154) at the Xcite shopping center parking lot in Central Pattaya, Chonburi province.
At the scheduled meeting time, Maik posed as a tourist and sat inside a popular fried chicken restaurant before negotiating with undercover agents. When the transaction was completed and officers moved to arrest him, Maik quickly fled the restaurant on a motorcycle toward a beer bar in Soi Buakhao.
Police immediately pursued and apprehended him with 2.61 grams of cocaine and some of the buy money as evidence.
During a subsequent search of his residence in Central Pattaya, authorities discovered an additional 424 grams of cocaine and a .380 caliber pistol with ammunition. The total value of seized evidence was nearly 500,000 baht (approximately $15,400).
In preliminary questioning, Maik claimed a fellow German national supplied him with cocaine at 2,500-3,000 baht per gram, delivering up to 1 kilogram at a time. He allegedly distributed the drugs among foreign nationals in the Pattaya area before splitting the profits.
However, authorities remain skeptical of his testimony and are expanding their investigation to arrest accomplices, suspecting this may be part of a larger drug trafficking network operating in Thailand’s key tourist areas.
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