Find Your Thai Love
Monday, March 19, 2012
POLICE TURN UP THE HEAT ON FOREIGN CRIMINALS
In the ongoing battle against Pattaya’s farang criminal fraternity, the Transnational Crime Coordination Centre (TNCC) has been beefed up to meet the challenge. Based at Pattaya Police Headquarters, TNCC reflects just how diverse the gangs are that come to Pattaya to ply their illegal trades.
One notable success was the arrest of Frenchmen who were suspects in a credit card fraud case. The suspects were nabbed at a Pattaya hotel after police found them withdrawing money from an ATM using forged credit cards containing information stolen from other countries. They sent 70 percent of the stolen money back to their networks in France and took the rest of the money for themselves.
Not all the gang members – believed to hail from Marseilles – have been arrested, though police believe the remainder may have moved on after the heat became too great. Police have already seized an electronic skimmer which illegally records ATM pin numbers, 31 fake credit cards and over 125,000 baht in cash. Arrests have also been made of skimmer gangs from Russia, Uzbekistan and Iran.
Lieutenant General Panya Mamen, chief of police region two, said “There are still many foreign criminals on Pattaya’s streets, often tourists in disguise, and the improvements in the capacity of the TNCC are a major key to resolution.” He added that the TNCC had been very active in other cash-related investigations including fake currency scams and obnoxious ruses to deprive foreign investors of their deposits in fraudulent property schemes.
Separately, the Chonburi immigration bureau has been active in tracking down large numbers of desirable foreign visitors. Using the data from their computerised international files, immigration police officers have tracked down over 200 serious foreign criminals in the last year. Many of these had Interpol warrants against them for serious violence or large-scale fraud and they were deported back to their own countries by the simple expedient of cancelling their Thai visas.
Immigration Police have also had significant success in arresting foreign pedophiles. Again, many of these were wanted for fleeing bail in their first country and were deported under bilateral agreements with foreign embassies. “It is not necessary for foreigners to be found guilty of crimes on Thai soil if there is an Interpol warrant against them,” said police colonel Chusak Panusumpon who is superintendent of Chonburi immigration bureau. “We are now working closely with many foreign embassies and police forces.”
Undercover immigration officers have also been responsible for the arrest of at least 40 foreign prostitutes, working mainly in the Walking Street area, as well as several major drug dealers. “We now have a huge amount of computerized data on foreign suspects, including their last-known hideouts, which is paying dividends in the ongoing efforts to present a cleaner and safer Pattaya,” added the superintendent.
**They actually going for the "softer targets". Hookers….card fraud…..etc.
What about the serious criminals "who walk amongst us" and court the higher echelons of Thai society and influence as their personal friends!
One notable success was the arrest of Frenchmen who were suspects in a credit card fraud case. The suspects were nabbed at a Pattaya hotel after police found them withdrawing money from an ATM using forged credit cards containing information stolen from other countries. They sent 70 percent of the stolen money back to their networks in France and took the rest of the money for themselves.
Not all the gang members – believed to hail from Marseilles – have been arrested, though police believe the remainder may have moved on after the heat became too great. Police have already seized an electronic skimmer which illegally records ATM pin numbers, 31 fake credit cards and over 125,000 baht in cash. Arrests have also been made of skimmer gangs from Russia, Uzbekistan and Iran.
Lieutenant General Panya Mamen, chief of police region two, said “There are still many foreign criminals on Pattaya’s streets, often tourists in disguise, and the improvements in the capacity of the TNCC are a major key to resolution.” He added that the TNCC had been very active in other cash-related investigations including fake currency scams and obnoxious ruses to deprive foreign investors of their deposits in fraudulent property schemes.
Separately, the Chonburi immigration bureau has been active in tracking down large numbers of desirable foreign visitors. Using the data from their computerised international files, immigration police officers have tracked down over 200 serious foreign criminals in the last year. Many of these had Interpol warrants against them for serious violence or large-scale fraud and they were deported back to their own countries by the simple expedient of cancelling their Thai visas.
Immigration Police have also had significant success in arresting foreign pedophiles. Again, many of these were wanted for fleeing bail in their first country and were deported under bilateral agreements with foreign embassies. “It is not necessary for foreigners to be found guilty of crimes on Thai soil if there is an Interpol warrant against them,” said police colonel Chusak Panusumpon who is superintendent of Chonburi immigration bureau. “We are now working closely with many foreign embassies and police forces.”
Undercover immigration officers have also been responsible for the arrest of at least 40 foreign prostitutes, working mainly in the Walking Street area, as well as several major drug dealers. “We now have a huge amount of computerized data on foreign suspects, including their last-known hideouts, which is paying dividends in the ongoing efforts to present a cleaner and safer Pattaya,” added the superintendent.
**They actually going for the "softer targets". Hookers….card fraud…..etc.
What about the serious criminals "who walk amongst us" and court the higher echelons of Thai society and influence as their personal friends!
Chalerm wants drug runners executed faster
Presiding over a press conference yesterday to announce the seizure in Chiang Rai of 2.5 million ya ba tablets and 50 kilograms of crystal meth, or "ice", worth Bt800 million, Deputy Premier Chalerm Yoobamrung vowed to change the law to ensure that drug dealers who are sentenced to death are executed within 30 days of the final verdict in their cases.
Chalerm also warned hospitals and pharmacists not to supply pseudoephedrine-based cold medicines to makers of ya ba and "ice", or they would face serious punishment.
Meanwhile, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said cold medicine from some 30 hospitals had reportedly been smuggled to drug networks. The DSI would probe Kalasin's Kamalasai Hospital and Chiang Mai's Doi Lor Hospital this week. Central Udon Thani Hospital clarified that a check of its cold medicine stocks for the past three years found that 4.8 million tablets had been embezzled - not 37 million tablets as some news agencies said.
During yesterday's conference at Suvarnabhumi Airport, where male suspect Damrong Samawawiang, 39, and females Hassareudee Arthorn-prachachit, 34, and Parichart Charoonwit, 27, were presented with the seized drugs, Chalerm said officials had been investigating the alleged drug ring since January. It allegedly sent drugs from Chiang Rai to Bangkok, leading to a stakeout at a Muang Chiang Rai house.
Police on Thursday followed the two female suspects, who had packed boxes at the house and taken them to Damrong at a warehouse on the Chiang Rai Super-Highway. Police presented themselves at the warehouse and searched the six boxes, in which they found the drugs, leading to the arrest of the three. The boxes were bound for Bangkok's Saphan Sung, with bogus names.
Damrong reportedly told police he sent such packages 10 times before in smaller amounts. Chalerm said the husband of Parichart, who rented the house, was arrested with accomplices in a previous bust involving 300,000 ya ba tablets and Bt3 million in assets.
Hassareudee - who is the sister of Parichart's husband - was arrested once before in a police sting with 200 ya ba tablets, Chalerm said. He added that the group didn't seem to fear the law or to have learnt a lesson, so they deserved the severest punishment. He said he would propose an amendment requiring drug dealers sentenced to death to be executed within 30 days of their final verdict, as drug-trafficking was a serious issue and many inmates continued to deal drugs in jail.
The National Command Centre for Drugs (NCCD) said that from Sept 11, 2011 to March 15 authorities had arrested 321 suspected ya ba dealers and seized 26 million tablets; plus 143 suspected "ice" dealers and seized 600kg of the drug. They also seized 200kg of heroin, 4.6 tonnes of marijuana, 13.7kg of cocaine and 4.2 million tablets with pseudoephedrine.
Commenting on the probe into alleged theft of cold medicine at Central Udon Thani Hospital, Uttaradit's Thong Saeng Khan Hospital and Chiang Mai's Doi Lor Hospital, DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said investigators had traced drug-lot numbers and found a link to a February 18 cold-medicine seizure in Chiang Mai. Tharit said the DSI-Food and Drug Administration probe found many hospitals and clinics bought suspiciously large amounts of cold medicine.
Based on the lot numbers, he said three public hospitals, one private hospital, eight clinics and one pharmacy were linked to the Chiang Mai cold-medicine seizure. He said this had led to a suspicion that a gang was siphoning cold medicine from the public health system through some 30 hospitals to San Kamphaeng in Chiang Mai for narcotics production.
After the case at Kalasin's Kamalapisai Hospital, in which 356,535 cold medicine tablets were missing, was made public, three drug-dispensing personnel were suspended and face disciplinary probes. Kalasin deputy police said an initial investigation found at least five people were involved. A check of last year's receipts found 21 had inflated the amount of drugs actually distributed. The case report would be sent to the Drug Suppression Police this week.
Police also seized 9,019 ya ba tablets in Rayong's Klaeng district, but the suspect, Theerawat Sriserm, 24, the son of an official, fled. Police seized 32,000 ya ba tablets in Lop Buri's Tha Wung district but the alleged owner, female village head Panida Meejaijeu, 33, fled.
A policeman lines up heavy packs of illicit drugs in preparation for yesterday's press conference at Suvarnabhumi Airport about the seizure
Tussle erupts over bomb suspect.
An Indian court Saturday issued an arrest warrant for Masoud Sedaghatzadeh over an attack on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi on Feb 13.
Thai authorities are seeking to extradite Mr Sedaghatzadeh from Malaysia over the botched bomb plot in Sukhumvit Soi 71 on Feb 14.
Delhi chief metropolitan magistrate Vinod Yadav issued the warrant for Mr Sedaghatzadeh after police alleged he was also involved in the Delhi blast conspiracy, the Press Trust of India said.
"You [police] are hereby directed to arrest him," Mr Yadav said.
On Friday, Delhi police commissioner Brijesh Kumar Gupta said investigations had established a clear link between the Feb 13 attack in India and a similar plot a day later in Bangkok.
He said arrest warrants would be issued soon for three suspects identified as Houshang Ashfar Irani, Sayed Ali Sadr Mehdian and Abolghasemi Mohammad Reza. They are all believed to be in Iran, police said.
Mr Gupta said Mr Irani had been in touch with Mr Sedaghatzadeh, "thus establishing his links with the terror module in Bangkok".
Thai investigators say the same magnets were used to make the bombs in India and Thailand.
Thai authorities have detained two Iranians out of five suspects wanted on warrants. They are suspected of planning a separate attack on Israeli diplomats.
Thai prosecutors and police investigators will visit Kuala Lumpur on March 25 to ask Malaysian prosecutors to extradite Mr Sedaghatzadeh.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
