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

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

Police believe they have found the remains of a 38-year-old Chinese tourists dumped in a deserted area in the Muang district of Chachoengsao province just east of Bangkok. The Chinese woman was reported to have been kidnapped for ransom in Bangkok nearly two weeks ago, according to police.

A search team from Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB), inspected the deserted site near a housing estate in tambon Bang Phra of Muang district in Chachoengsao province around noon on Saturday.

They found a torso and human legs, that they believe could belong to Miss Yan Ruimin, 38 from China. Forensic investigators are coordinating with the police lab to carry out DNA tests of the body parts, the Thairath reported.

Bangkok Police began the search after Chinese national Cai Boxuan told police at the Bang Rak station in Bangkok on Friday that his friend Ms Yan had gone missing.

The last time he heard from her was on June 30 when she told him that she would go to Phuket on July 2. He said he feared she might be in danger.

Yan Ruimin, 38, was last heard from on June 30, 2024 – Photo Metropolitan Police Bureau

According to a police source, Miss Yan’s relatives grew concerned after not hearing from her for some time, so they flew to Thailand and asked the Chinese embassy for help.

A suspect subsequently contacted them and demanded a ransom of 1 million yuan (5 million baht) for Miss Yan’s release. The suspect was identified as Chinese National Mr. Ma Qingyan, and a search discovered that he rented a car in Bangkok on June 30.

On July 1, Miss Yan was seen getting into the car at Times Square near Sukhumvit Soi 12, police said, and that a CCTV security camera video showed the car heading to Sukhumvit Soi 16. Later in the evening, CCTV security cameras captured the rented car with the suspect and the woman inside it travelling on Rama IV Road.

The following day, the car left the Sukhumvit 16 address and headed to Chon Buri.

At about 2am on July 3, the car appeared in Chachoengsao before Miss Yan’s telephone signal went dead in an area near a public park close to Wat Sothon Wararam Worawihan in Muang district.

Mr. Ma then reportedly checked out of his Bangkok hotel later that day and flew to Hong Kong, according to Immigration police said.

A security camera shows Miss Yan checking her phone – Photo Metropolitan Police Bureau

Police examined video from closed-circuit CCTV cameras along the route to Chachoengsao province , focusing on locations where the rental car had stopped.

Local media reported that a check of the car’s GPS showed that it travelled to a fish farm in Muang district. Police found an item of burned luggage, believed to belong to the missing woman, in tambon Bang Phra. The search eventually brought them to the site where they found the body parts believe to be Miss Yan’s

Reports of Chinese nationals being kidnapped in Thailand have been rising. Many victims are lured with fake job offers or business deals, only to be held for ransom.

Often, these kidnappings are tied to criminal networks that operate across borders. The victims’ families are then contacted and pressured to pay large sums for their release.

Authorities in Thailand are working on increasing security and cooperation with the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok to tackle this issue. Police say it’s crucial for travelers to stay vigilant and avoid suspicious offers.

Other Police News:

Chiang Mai Police Offer Cash Reward After Officer Killed

Chiang Mai Police Offer Cash Reward After Officer Killed