Village Chief Admits to Methamphetamine Use in Sri Sa Ket
A village headman in Si Sa Ket province tested positive for methamphetamine after residents complained he was using drugs with teenagers; he admitted to using the drug on September 1 and was arrested and charged.
On September 5, Anurutt Thamprachumjit, governor of Si Sa Ket province, along with Deputy Police Colonel Supchai Sakrinpanichkul, commander of Si Sa Ket Provincial Police, ordered a special narcotics suppression task force to investigate a village headman suspected of drug involvement.
Authorities conducted a urine test on Wichitchai (Chit), headman of Moo 13, Ban Pakbung village, Nong Ung subdistrict, Rasee District, Si Sa Ket province, following complaints from residents that he had been using methamphetamine and socializing with teenagers in the village while using drugs. The initial test detected narcotics, and a confirmatory test at Si Sa Ket Hospital found methamphetamine in his system.
Wichitchai admitted to using methamphetamine on September 1 at an abandoned house adjacent to his residence and the village bulletin board. He confessed to having fashioned a drug-smoking device from chewing gum foil, lemongrass stem, and a tube, and acknowledged obtaining the methamphetamine from teenagers in the village. A search of his home found no illegal items.
Wichitchai was taken to the Si Sa Ket Provincial Police Narcotics Center. He refused voluntary rehabilitation, so police charged him with illegal possession and use of Category 1 narcotics (methamphetamine). He was arrested and handed over to investigators at Rasee Police Station, Si Sa Ket province, for legal proceedings.
