Police hunted down and
arrested Hartley at a beer bar complex in central Pattaya.
Boonlua Chatree
A British man was arrested for allegedly helping a
foreign website operator market nearly 10 million baht in illegal
steroids, sedatives and sexual-performance drugs.
Neil Patterson Hartley, 58, was taken into custody at
the Mickey Beer Bar on Soi Buakaow Nov. 4. In a later raid of his View
Talay 6 condominium office, Bangkok Crime Suppression Division
investigators discovered a pharmacy’s worth of drugs being packaged for
overseas distribution.
Among the contraband were sexual-performance drugs
Kamagra jelly, Levitra, and Viagra. Police said several of these were
branded copies of the actual drug. Also in the office were sleeping
pills and stronger sedatives such as diazepam. Most were packed in
bottles or envelopes ready for distribution. Investigators also
uncovered a cache of illegal steroids, including HG521c.
Hartley was charged with purchase, concealment and
distribution of illegal narcotics, import-export violations,
pharmaceutical-license offenses and working without a work permit.
Police allege Hartley was behind a website marketing
the drugs to overseas customers. The suspect denied he owned the
website, saying it was operated by a Keith Ireland, who was out of the
country. The website reportedly was registered in Uzbekistan.
Website company staffer Jariya Paromphao, who opened
the door for investigators, told police the drugs were all purchased
inside Thailand.
Investigators raided a second office and uncovered
additional drugs, plus financial records indicating Hartley earned as
much as 3 million baht per year.
