Alcohol suppliers were out on bail before court decided to add charges of attempted murder
PUBLISHED : 30 Aug 2024 at 20:02
Two brothers who supplied methyl alcohol to a moonshine maker in Min Buri have been apprehended in Ayutthaya in a case linked to the poisoning deaths of six people.
It was the brothers’ second arrest within a week.
Surasak and Surachai Insaam, aged 46 and 44, were arrested in tambon Bo Ta Lo in Wang Noi district on Thursday night.
It took 50 officers a half-day to locate the siblings in a forest, said Pol Maj Gen Kiatikul Sonthinen, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 3.
The pair were previously nabbed at a house in Saphan Sung district of Bangkok on Monday after a 49-year-old moonshine (ya dong) maker known as “Je Poo”, told police she had bought supplies from them to make herbal liquor.
She sold her moonshine to operators of 18 stalls in six districts of the capital. So far, six people have died, and 43 were left sick after drinking the liquor.
The brothers were detained at the Min Buri Criminal Court for unauthorised liquor sales and were granted bail on Tuesday.
The same court issued a second arrest warrant on Wednesday on charges of attempted murder and food adulteration endangering people’s health, which led to Friday’s arrests.
After their capture, both denied all the charges. They claimed the drink was made by diluting ethanol that contained 95% alcohol by volume with water, with the end product containing 35% alcohol and being safe to drink.
Je Poo told investigators that the siblings, who are her husband’s cousins, had contracted her a year ago to sell their moonshine. She bought the alcohol for 900 baht per 25 litres.
She said she started to receive complaints from some customers this month. When she tested her drinks, she said, she had diarrhoea for three days.
In addition to the six people who died, 43 others became seriously ill after consuming the deadly moonshine in the capital’s eastern suburbs from Aug 22-30, caretaker Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Friday.
The Ministry of Justice will pay up to 100,000 baht in compensation to the families of the deceased. The sum includes 20,000 baht for funeral expenses, 40,000 baht for supporting their parents, and another 40,000 baht for other damages, said Pawin Norkaew, an officer with the ministry’s Rights and Liberties Protection Department.
For the sick, the ministry will pay hospital expenses up to 40,000 baht per person, physical and mental rehabilitation expenses up to 20,000 baht, and loss of income up to 14,000 baht.