Crime
Thai Police Raid Ethiopian Pub-Restaurant in Bangkok, 65 Thai and Foreigners Detained
Officers question foreigners after a drug raid early Friday morning on Soi Sukhumvit 3 in Bangkok.- Photo Khaosod
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BANGKOK – A 100-strong police and military force raided an pub and restaurant venue on Soi 3 in Bangkok’s Nana area early Friday morning detaining 65 Thai and foreign customers.
The Ethiopian Pub-Restaurant is located near a part of downtown known as “Soi Africa†for its concentration of foreign nationals from Africa and the Middle East.
Of the 65 detained 12 of them, eight Thai women and four South African nationals, tested positive for methamphetamine use.
The other foreign customers were from Africa along with several from Canada, the United States, Nepal, Poland and Uzbekistan, the American and Polish national, were found to have no entry documents.
Pol Maj Gen ThanongsakThangthong, chief of narcotics suppression division said officers searched the building and found 51 shisha pipes which are illegal to import into Thailand, on the roof-deck and another 11 on the third floor.
The pub and restaurant were run by two Ethiopian nationals, who were not present during the raid, Ethiopian National Mekuriya Hailegebrel and another unidentified man said to be out of the country.
All 65 pub-goers were taken to Lumpini police station with the confiscated hookahs, police said they are investigating the immigration status of the foreigners without passports.
Source: Bangkok Post, Khaosod
