Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD) this week raided an abandoned premises in Suphan Buri where illegal beauty products had reportedly been produced and shipped across the country.
Yesterday at the Central Investigation Bureau, Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop Bhuridej told a press conference that the CPPD had arrested a 32-year-old woman named Natpaphat Panitchayakan, following Tuesday’s raid and confiscated assets worth 3.5 million baht.
The assets include four embossing machines for rhinoplasty and forehead augmentation, 68 silicone blocks, 1,098 ready-to-use silicone noses and forehead appliances, as well as 43 unmolded silicone pieces.
Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop said that officers had been tipped off about the factory in tambon Wang Wa in Sri Prachan district of Suphan Buri and secured a warrant from Suphan Buri Provincial Court ahead of entering the facility.
During the search, his team had been unable to locate the required certificate for medical device production, said Pol Lt Gen Jirabhop.
Pol Col Neti Wongkulab, chief of CPPD sub-division 4, said that Ms Natpaphat had worked in a plastic surgery clinic before she resigned to become a surgery silicone salesperson.
Later, she purchased embossing machines and sold her silicone at 80 baht per piece, 10 times cheaper than the normal price in the market, Pol Col Neti said.
He added that police had found that, for two years, Ms Natpaphat had been selling to dozens of popular plastic surgery clinics across the country.
Police have pressed charges for the production of medical devices without a licence and failing to notify the Medical Device Control Division.
CPPD commander Pol Maj Gen Anan Nanasombat said that these licences are necessary as poor-quality silicone can cause post-surgery complications.
He added that police are in the process of investigating other similar cases of illegal production of medical equipment.