Officials raided an illegal factory in Samut Prakan province and seized tonnes of smuggled chemicals that could have been used to produce half a million "zombie pods".
Pol Maj Suriya Singhakamol, secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board, said on Sunday the factory operated illegally in a rented warehouse in Bang Bo district of Samut Prakan. It was raided on Saturday.
Police found and impounded 11.9 tonnes of contraband chemicals used for the production of the anaesthetic etomidate - ethanol, hydrochloric acid, p-Toluenesulfonic acid and glycerine.
The raid was synchronised with two similar raids, in China and Vietnam, on a gang believed to be part of a Chinese-run network producing etomidate, which is used to make the vape drug known as “zombie pods", Pol Maj Suriya said.
During the raid in Samut Prakan, the Chinese factory operator was arrested and was being questioned. Chinese authorities arrested 38 other suspects in China.
The chemicals seized in Samut Prakan were enough to produce about 504,000 e-cigarettes with etomidate content, known as “zombie pods", worth about 900 million baht in total.
The police investigation was continuing
