A team of territorial defense volunteers raided a temple in Khon Sawan district of this northeastern province on Sunday and arrested a monk for using and selling methamphetamine pills, police said.
The raid, led by Phanthat Phu-sanga, a senior assistant district chief, followed reports from informants and complaints from local residents that the monk, Phra Suthorn Sonkaew, 40, had acted as a drug pusher selling meth pills to teenagers in the village.
Phra Suthorn, a monk at Wat Chaimongkol at Khon Sawan village in tambon Khon Sawan, at first denied the accusation, police said.
In a search of his living quarters, the team recovered a black plastic packet containing 36 meth pills from his bed.
When confronted with the evidence, Phra Suthorn confessed he had just bought 40 meth pills at 100 baht for three pills.
He had used two of the pills himself and resold two to young villagers, leaving 36 in the packet.
A urine test on him came out purple.
He was subsequently stripped off the monkhood by the district monk chief and brought to the Khon Sawan police station, where he was charged with using and having drugs in possession with intent to sell.
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Territorial defence volunteers search for drug in a living quarters of Phra Sunthorn Sonkaew at Wat Chaimongkol in Khon Sawan district of Chaiyaphum on Sunday. (Photo: Makkawan Wannakul)
