Illegal drugs may have hospital connection

Hospitals are not supposed to be involved in the illegal drug business, but it appears they are ? at least indirectly.

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Five people have been arrested in drug raids in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district which netted 200,000 pills of methamphetamine and 6kg of crystal methamphetamine with a street price of 78 million baht in total. A key ingredient may have come from Thai hospitals.

Hospital staff probed over pills

King-oua Laohong 

Hospital staff are suspected of supplying pseudoephedrine-based medicines to drug gangs in Myanmar and Laos.

The Anti-Money Laundering Office is probing the financial records of pharmacists and other hospital staff to find out whether they have been trafficking pseudoephedrine-based drugs from state and private hospitals.

The drugs are used as a precursor for producing methamphetamine and crystal methamphetamine.

Amlo chief Seehanat Prayoonrat said investigators are also probing the suspected drug rings which receive the drugs from Thailand.

Preliminary results show gangs are paying hospital staff to order the drugs, which are then diverted from hospital pharmacies and sent by mail to northern provinces.

There, drug members intercept them and take them across the border.

Tharit Pengdit, chief of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said methamphetamine and crystal methamphetamine are produced out of chemicals synthesised from the pseudoephedrine-based pills.

The drugs are then smuggled into Thailand once again, he said.

The pseudoephedrine-based drugs which gangs rely on for making illegal drugs are both legally imported by hospitals and illegally smuggled into the country, he said.

One cold relief pill can be turned into three methamphetamine pills.

The DSI is also investigating unusual transactions by some doctors and pharmaceutical companies that had opened several clinics and ordered a large amount of cold relief pills, a DSI source said.

The DSI was establishing a link between these doctors, drug firms and certain drug rings, the source said.

Meanwhile, police say five staff members of Kamalasai Hospital in Kalasin are thought to be linked to the disappearance of 356,535 tablets of pseudoephedrine-based drugs from the hospital.

The suspects, including a pharmacist, were found to have been involved in falsifying at least 21 out of 37 reports of pseudoephedrine-based drugs prescribed to patients, Pol Col Wichian Pinduang, deputy provincial police chief, said.

Another 20 drug use report forms had gone missing, he said.

The Public Health Ministry expects to conclude its investigations into alleged smuggling of pseudoephedrine-based drugs at four of its hospitals this week, Dr Paijit Warachit, permanent secretary for public health said.

A pharmacist suspected of being involved in alleged cold-drug smuggling at Udon Thani Hospital was likely to be dismissed this week, Dr Paijit said.

arrested – caught by the police and taken to a police station because you are believed to have committed a crime ถูกจับกุม
raid – using force to enter a place suddenly in order to arrest people or search for something such as illegal weapons or drugs การเข้าตรวจค้น
pill – a small flat round piece of medicine that you swallow without chewing it ยาเม็ด
methamphetamine – a stimulant drug that increases alertness and energy, but which is dangerous when taken in large amounts or over a long period of time ยาบ้า
key – very important ที่สำคัญ
ingredient – one of the substances that are combined to make something ส่วนผสม
staff – all the workers employed by a person or organisation considered as a group คณะผู้ทำงาน, คนงาน
probe – to investigate  สอบสวน
suspected – thought to be something เป็นที่สงสัย
money laundering – hiding the origin of money obtained from illegal activities by putting it into legal businesses การฟอกเงิน
pharmacist – someone whose job is to prepare medicines for sale in a shop or in a hospital. A pharmacist’s shop is called a pharmacist, a pharmacist’s, or a pharmacy เภสัชกร
trafficking – dealing in illegal goods, like drugs, weapons or in illegally moving humans from one place to another การค้าสิ่งที่ผิดกฎหมาย
state – government รัฐบาล
private (sector) – businesses and industries that are not owned or controlled by the government (ภาค)เอกชน
precursor – (chemistry) a compound that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound  สารตั้งต้น
investigator – someone whose job is to officially find out the facts about something – ผู้สอบสวน, ผู้ตรวจสอบ
ring – a group of people involved in an activity, especially an illegal one กลุ่มคณะ
preliminary – early; not final ขั้นต้น, ขั้นแรก, เบื้องต้น, ชั้นต้น
divert – to take someone's attention away from something เปลี่ยนเส้นทางจาก
pharmacy – a shop where medicines are prepared and sold ร้านขายยา
intercept – to stop and catch something or someone before they are able to reach a particular place สกัด
(DSI) Department of Special Investigation – a police department investigating serious crimes involving influential people, organised crime, or crimes using highly sophisticated technology กรมสอบสวนคดีพิเศษ
synthesise – to produce a substance by means of chemical or biological processes สังเคราะห์
smuggle – to take drugs, money, people, etc. to or from a place secretly and often illegally  ลักลอบนำเข้า
rely on – to need something in order to continue living, existing, or operating อาศัย, พึ่งพาอาศัย
illegal – against the law ผิดกฎหมาย, นอกกฎหมาย
import – to buy or bring in products from another country นำเข้า
transaction – a business dealing  การติดต่อทางธุรกิจ
pharmaceutical – connected with the production of medicines เกี่ยวกับเภสัชกรรม, เกี่ยวกับยา
source – someone who gives information แหล่งข่าว
establish – to discover, prove, or decide that something is true พิสูจน์, แสดงให้เห็น
link – a connection การเชื่อมต่อ
disappearence – not able to be seen or found; no longer existing; no longer in use การหายไป, การสาบสูญ, การสูญหาย
suspect – a person who is thought to have committed a crime ผู้ต้องสงสัย
falsify – to change something, such as a document, in order to deceive people ปลอมแปลง
prescribe – to tell somebody to take a particular medicine or have a particular treatment; to write a prescription for a particular medicine, etc สั่งจ่ายยา
patient – someone who is receiving medical treatment คนป่วย, คนไข้
deputy – a person whose rank is immediately below that of the leader of an organisation รอง
conclude – to finish; to complete an official agreement or task, or arrange a business deal  จบ
alleged – claimed to be true although not yet proven ที่ถูกกล่าวหา
permanent secretary – a government official, not a political appointee, in charge of a ministry ปลัดกระทรวง
dismiss – to force someone to leave their job  ไล่ออกจากตำแหน่ง