Crime
Iranians arrested in 300 Million Baht Drug Bust
PATTAYA – After months of investigation, one of Thailand’s larges drug seizures was conducted in Pattaya yesterday; over three hundred million baht worth of drugs were seized in the sting operation.
Senior detectives from the Banglamung police serious crime division, in a combined operation involving Thailand’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau, had been tracking one of the most prolific drug producing operations in Thailand.
Some of the three hundred million baht drug haul recovered. Photo: Udomgeyit Thipsrigul/Pattaya103FMDetectives managed to piece together the operation and knew that the major players were of Iranian nationality, living in Thailand. The difficult task was to track them, since they operated under a cloak of anonymity.
The breakthrough came when officers arrested minor dealers who offered up their suppliers to gain favor in their sentencing. Those dealers, in turn arrested, supplied police with a traceable middle man and so the trail began.
The arrest of an Iranian middleman on the November 25 and his subsequent questioning by the team, resulted in a list of the top dogs, along with addresses where the drugs were manufactured and stored. The middleman had been delivering drugs to Bangkok at the time of his arrest in the Lat Krabang area of the capital Bangkok.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, two police teams were finally allowed to raid the Pattaya addresses, as warrants were issued for what was expected to become major drug raids. Prior to the raid, undercover officers had monitored the house to assess the activity and also to make sure that the operatives were at the address when the raid took place.
The first address to be raided was in Green village Park, on Soi Chayababruk in Pattaya, where the owner had already been questioned and officers knew that several Iranians had rented the secluded house, situated within a 40 Rai estate, for 25,000 baht a month.
Officers gained entry during a dawn raid and discovered nearly 19 Kilograms of yaba and ya ice (methamphetamine), which had been freshly manufactured, along with the chemicals used to manufacture the drug and dilute it to its normal street strength. The upstairs of the house had been converted into a drug factory and the raw chemicals were found along side drug manufacturing equipment.
Two Iranian nationals, Ali Behnam Asadollahi and Mohammad Mehdi Manaei along with Behtd Gharhyoz were arrested at the scene and taken, along with the substances found, under the strong guard of Pattaya based police, to the Banglamung Regional Police station for further enquiries.
During a 12 month investigation, drug enforcement officers established that one of the manufacturing kingpins was, in fact Ali Behnam Asadollahi, a fully trained chemist and that the drugs were manufactured in the Chonburi province, for sale within Thailand. A large percentage of the product was also exported overseas and, as we shall see, some of the main ingredients were imported illegally from the Republic of Ireland.
Following the morning raid on the house, officers quickly established that more than one address had been used by the dealers, and around midday, a police team was sent to a warehouse on the east-side of Pattaya, rented to a company calling themselves AEE Hardware.
At the scene they met with the 57-year-old warehouse security guard along with the property owner. Once access was gained to the store, police found a supply of air compressors and soft furnishing which appeared to be a furniture factory, however they also found numerous ceramic containers, each of which contained a white, so far unidentified, powder, along with more chemicals used in the manufacturing of methamphetamines.
In a weird twist, the warehouse owner told police that the current tenant was a 41-year-old “Northern Irishman”, who was identified as “Manocheher Eskandari” who paid 15,000 baht a month to rent the premises. There is an obvious doubt as to his nationality and police have contacted British authorities to try and secure information of his whereabouts and history.
The security guard told officials that the warehouse had numerous foreign visitors, but that he assumed that they were conducting legitimate business transactions.
A total of 4 men have so far been arrested, but police are aware of at least 8 being involved in the gang. Its believed that the escapees may have fled toward the Burmese border in the hope that they can escape arrest, however Pattaya Police have liaised with Thailand’s immigration police and an “all persons bulletin” has been released to border guards with a detailed description.
Currently the team believe that the escapees are still within Thailand’s borders and are desperate men, determined to escape.
The combined value of the raid is conservatively estimated at over three hundred million baht (US$10 million).
Thailand has seen a massive effort being made over recent years to reduce the drug trade, both for export and domestic use and police have arrested anyone who can be associated with the trade, from the minor street dealer to the king pins.
With the penalties for illicit drug trading as high as they are in the kingdom, ( life imprisonment and even the death penalty are common), those involved are usually quick to assist the authorities in the hope that their sentences might be lessened.
Pattaya Police, along with those from the Banglamung region, have worked tirelessly on cases such as these, starting with the one- and two-pill dealers and working up the chain of supply. – Udomgeyit Thipsrigul
Police in Northern Thailand have arrested a fellow officer as he was being ordained at a temple in Ngao district of neighbouring Lampang province.
Pol Lt Col Bandit Khonkan chief inspector from the Hang Dong police station was disrobed and taken to the Chang Puak station in Chiang Mai. He was arrested on charges of running a call centre scam gang in Chiang Mai Province.
According to Thai Media Chiang Mai Provincial Police Region 5 obtained an arrest warrant for Pol Lt Col Bandit on Friday from the Chiang Mai Provincial Court for procuring illegal telecom equipment, setting up a station and using public airwaves to run a telecommunications business without permission.
Pol Lt Col Bandit reportedly told investigators that he was not the ringleader and was only a member of the gang with Chinese partners.
His arrest followed the apprehension of his 26-year-old daughter, Miss Wanuchapond, 26, and three others during raids at three housing projects in Chiang Mai on Friday, Pol Maj Gen Weerachon Boontawee, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 5 told Thai media.
During the raids police police discovered around 12 GSM gateways, or SIM boxes, which are devices used for converting cellular networks into mobile phone numbers used domestically.
The chief inspectors daughter Miss Wanuchapond told the arresting officers that she was paid 8,000 baht a month at each of the three locations for renting thr rooms and monitoring devices.
She claimed she had no idea what the devices were and accepted the job because the pay was attractive.
Police investigators working with telecom regulators used a special tracking device to monitor the gang’s communications and learned that its base was in Myanmar opposite Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai.
The call center gang used the GSM gateways to make calls over the internet to scam people in Thailand out of million of baht.
The GSM gateways transmitting signals via SIM boxes to convert them into domestic phone numbers, duping victims into thinking they were being called from Thai government agencies.
Pol Maj Gen Weerachon said that each SIM box held 32 SIM cards, with a capacity of up to 300,000 calls a month. The seized devices had made fraudulent calls over 3.6 million times.
He said the their investigation is ongoing and they are working to track down the remaining conspirators, including Chinese and other Thai suspects.
Authorities are still deciding whether Pol Lt Col Bandit will be dismissed from the force, he said, adding that so far, no other officers are known to have been involved.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.
On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.
His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.
Related Police News:
Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai
https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/
Immigration police officers have arrested four Colombian nationals in connection with a series of home burglaries at luxury housing complexes in the Bangkok metropolitan area and Chiang Buri Province.
Pol Maj Gen Panthana Nuchanart, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, told a press briefing that three of the suspects were apprehended in Nonthaburi Province and the fourth in South Pattaya, Chon Buri Province.
According to the Bangkok Post, the Colombians were charged with stealing conspiracy and seized around 3 million baht (US$82,500.00).
According to Pol Maj Gen Panthana, the criminals rode motorcycles through housing estates, scoping out the properties and waiting for the owners to depart before committing their crimes.
He stated that all four of the accused denied any involvement in the home break-ins, but the arresting squad discovered evidence that implicated them.
Police called to home invasion
Meanwhile, police were dispatched to a luxury housing development in Tambon Nong Prue, Chonburi Province, after a Chinese man was attacked during a house invasion.
When they arrived, they discovered the house owner, Mr. Qian Peng Yi, visibly scared and with marks from being tied up with a cable. He informed police that three Chinese males broke into his home at 9 p.m., one of whom brandished a gun at him and directed him to his bedroom.
They bound his hands and feet, gagged him with fabric, taped his head, and forced him into the bed. The intruders then attempted to compel him into transferring 10 million baht in cryptocurrencies to them, endangering the life of his 33-year-old cousin who was in a second-floor bedroom.
While they scoured the house in search of riches, Mr. Peng Yi managed to flee and hide; he subsequently observed them leave with his cousin. Officials investigated the property and analyzed security camera footage from the incident and surrounding areas.
Around 9 p.m., a 30-year-old van driver came at the Bang Lamung police station after being contacted by an agency to carry Chinese customers from Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The driver informed authorities that he was supposed to pick them up at a motel about a kilometer from the Chinese businessman’s home. He then drove them to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, arriving at 1 a.m. and receiving 1,800 baht.
The driver took a snapshot of the group smoking at the airport gate and identified one of them as the victim’s cousin. Police suspected coordination between her and the three suspects in her cousin’s heist, who all departed Thailand on the same aircraft.
Other Bangkok News:
Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel
Police in Bangkok Discover Six Vietnamese Tourists Dead in 5 Star Hotel
Crime
Son of Thailand’s Leading Legal Scholar on Corruption Arrested for Running Online Gambling Network
The son of a former senator and leading economist and expert on corruption and gambling in Thailand has been arrested for on charges of running an online gambling network and its payment system.
Police from Thailand’s Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) have confiscated assets worth more than (US$ 11.1 million) 400 million baht.
Narote Piriyarangsan, 33, was arrested following crackdowns in three sites around the city, according to Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai, commander of the police Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).
Mr Narote’s father, Sangsit Piriyarangsan, is an economist who has written articles and books about corruption and gambling. He was one of the appointed senators that were investigating the government’s intention to legalize casino gaming before their terms expired.
Police also detained 39-year-old Narayut Narakaew, the owner of the gambling website 69pgslot.com. The Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the couple for operating an internet gambling service and money laundering.
According to the Bangkok Post, police seized two desktop computers, one laptop computer, 14 mobile phones, 21 bank passbooks, 53 ATM cards, and four high-end cars — a Ferrari 926 GTS, an Aston Martin, a Lexus, and a Subaru — totaling more than 400 million baht.
Police launched the inquiry after discovering the online gambling site, which accepted funds via an automatic deposit-withdrawal system through bank accounts and deposits in the AskMePay system. Players scanned the VPay QR code as well as the QR codes for Heng Online 888 or Heng Pay Company.
Police also discovered that payments received via QR code scans were transferred to the account of Heng Pay Co and then to the gambling website’s mule accounts using AskMePay, which did not use banks’ face recognition scanning. An inquiry indicated a monthly turnover of approximately 5 billion baht.
According to investigators, the website has been up and running for around four years, with the payment mechanism in use for roughly eight months.
According to Pol Maj Gen Athip, Mr Narote owns the gaming website’s payment systems and is the director of Heng Pay Co. After gathering evidence, authorities requested arrest warrants for 14 people.
Thailand does not allow almost any kind of gaming. Even though the law doesn’t say anything specific about online gaming, it is still considered gambling. The country has pretty strict rules about gambling. Thai punters can bet on the national lottery and horse races, but they can’t bet on any other types of games.
But it’s not a secret that there is a huge illegal gaming business in Thailand, even though it’s illegal.
The illegal casinos, online betting shops, underground lotteries, and pop-up bookies that take bets on everything from cockfights to Muay Thai make a shadow economy that is worth billions of dollars every year.
Related News:
Thailand’s Cyber Crime Police Raid Top Cops Home Over Gambling Websites
Thailand’s Cyber Crime Police Raid Top Cops Home Over Gambling Websites
-
News3 years agoLet’s Know About Ultra High Net Worth Individual
-
Entertainment2 years ago
Mabelle Prior: The Voice of Hope, Resilience, and Diversity Inspiring Generations
-
Health3 years agoHow Much Ivermectin Should You Take?
-
Tech2 years agoTop Forex Brokers of 2023: Reviews and Analysis for Successful Trading
-
Lifestyles2 years agoAries Soulmate Signs
-
Movies2 years agoWhat Should I Do If Disney Plus Keeps Logging Me Out of TV?
-
Health3 years agoCan I Buy Ivermectin Without A Prescription in the USA?
-
Learning2 years agoVirtual Numbers: What Are They For?