Interior minister leads raid on Samut Sakhon ‘drug den’, owner arrested
Officials from the Interior Ministry raided an entertainment venue in Samut Sakhon early on Saturday and arrested the owner for allegedly allowing the use of drugs in the premises.
More than 300 patrons were inside TAG Pub in Krathum Baen district when more than 30 officials from the Department of Provincial Administration stormed in, prompting many of the partygoers to flee the scene.
Initial inspection revealed several packs of narcotics and plastic straws used for snorting left on the floor. The customers who failed to get away in time were made to undergo testing for drug abuse, and 77 of them – 38 men and 39 women – tested positive, said Unsit Sampuntharat, the department’s director-general.
He said the owner of the venue was arrested and charged with operating the venue beyond legal hours, condoning drug abuse in the premises, selling alcohol beyond legal hours and promoting the sale of alcohol.
The department plans to suggest that the governor order the closure of the venue for five years as prescribed by the law, officials said. A worker at the venue was heard telling the authorities that “this pub is full of drug addicts”, a source familiar with the matter said.
The raid was led by Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Unsit also took part in the operation along with Samut Sakhon governor Phon Damtham and Krathum Baen district police station’s superintendent Pol Colonel Sorn Suetrongpanich.
Unsit said on Saturday that the crackdown was in response to complaints that drug abuse was allowed at TAG Pub and that it stayed open well beyond legal hours, disturbing the neighbourhood with loud music. He said when people in the neighbourhood confronted the pub’s owner, they were told that the operation was protected by certain influential people in the province.
In 2018, an entertainment venue located in the same building was ordered closed by provincial authorities for five years when its patrons were found abusing drugs.
A source said that after five years, the place was renovated, and a new bar was opened under the name TAG Pub. It was found that the place was supported by an unidentified local figure of influence, who will now be targeted under the Interior Ministry’s campaign against mafia-like figures, the source said.
