Crime

Drug Syndicates Using Thailand’s Postal Service for Distribution

Thailand’s Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) is increasing efforts against drug smuggling through the postal service as drug syndicates diversify their distribution methods to try and outsmart authorities across the country.

Piyasiri Wattanavarangkul, the ONCB deputy secretary-general, told the Bangkok Post that drug smugglers are increasingly using postal services to evade detection by authorities.

He said that this has led to an increase in the number of narcotics seized and the frequency of smuggling.

According to Mr. Piyasiri, authorities arrested 12 suspects involved in large-scale drug trafficking between October last year and June this year and confiscated more than 2.76 million methamphetamine pills, 3.5 kilograms of crystal meth, also known as ya ice, and more than 3,000 kilograms of marijuana.

Drugs through the postal service

Drug traffickers have changed their methods of smuggling drugs, Mr. Piyasiri said.

He said it is common for drugs to be hidden in packages and delivered by the postal service to cities from remote rural areas in the northernmost border provinces of Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.

In Northern Thailand, Hmong hill tribespeople package narcotics as harmless packages and have them delivered by the postal service or private couriers.

The final destination is often Bangkok and the four southern border provinces — Narathiwat, Yala, Pattani and Songkhla.

There was a recent discovery by the postal service of 2.5 million speed pills in Pattani and Songkhla from Chiang Rai’s Mae Fa Luang district and Chiang Mai’s Chiang Dao district.

In Chiang Rai, the districts of Mae Fa Luang and Mae Sai border the Golden Triangle, known for synthetic drug production.

Myanmar’s Shan State is where armed ethnic groups are allegedly heavily involved in synthetic drug production.

Hmong drug couriers also use Chiang Khong, Wiang Kaen, and Thoeng districts in Chiang Rai, as well as Phu Sang and Chiang Kham in Phayao.

As part of its efforts to crack down on drugs smuggled by these means, the ONCB works in partnership with the Narcotics Suppression Bureau of the Royal Thai Police to combat these smuggling methods, which have further increased the spread of illegal drugs across the country along with conventional smuggling methods.

Sending drugs to South Korea

Additionally, the ONCB found that Hmong people from Laos were sending illegal drugs to South Korea via international postal service early this year.

He said that by sending drugs from a neighbouring country instead, drug dealers evade detection by Thai authorities.

These drugs would likely have been sold across the entire region if they had gone undetected, Mr. Piyasiri said.

The ONCB alerts postal and courier service operators in areas where such cases are reported.

Mr. Piyasiri said mail sorting centers, which process parcels and packages for delivery abroad, were also told to watch out for illicit drugs.

The anti-drug police will also use X-ray scanners to detect any drugs hidden in packages.

As a means to address the problem, delivery and logistics service companies are also required by law to keep track of the identity of senders and receivers of packages.

ONCB officials must be notified within 15 days if any packages are suspected of containing illegal drugs.

Those who fail to comply will be fined between 10,000 and 100,000 baht, and their operating licences will be suspended or revoked, according to Mr. Piyasiri.

Options for alternative routes

The ONCB also monitors areas in the upper northeast, including Loei’s Pak Chom and Chiang Khan districts and many areas in Nong Khai.

In case of any difficulties moving drugs on routes in northern provinces, these areas will be used as alternatives, Mr. Piyasiri said.

With transit points on the Lao side of the border, these routes make it easy for drugs to cross the Mekong River from Laos.

He said surveillance is also being increased in lower Northeast areas where drugs are found to have been smuggled across the border, where the Mekong River narrows and large rocky outcrops and islands can act as transit points.

In Laos’ Savannakhet Province, another major drug trafficking network has established ties with drug dealers in the deep south, he said.

Ascendant crackdowns

He said that drug syndicates are being targeted more aggressively by the Myanmar government.

According to Mr. Piyasiri, Myanmar authorities have destroyed numerous drug production facilities and seized large amounts of narcotics and drug precursors as part of Operation Golden Triangle 1511.

Several countries, including China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, are participating in the Golden Triangle 1511 anti-drug initiative.

The “Golden Triangle” is a notorious drug production hub between Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.

Myanmar’s crackdown on illegal drugs benefits Thailand by curbing the flow of illicit drugs across the border, especially speed pills and crystal meth.

Additionally, he added that it prevents the drugs from being distributed to a wider range of countries.

At present, we are focused on seizing assets belonging to drug syndicates, which will essentially emasculate their networks as a whole,” Mr. Piyasiri explained.

He said authorities confiscated drug-related assets worth more than 9.7 billion baht between October last year and July 27.

Public tips about drug trafficking can also be sent to the 1386 hotline. The information provided by the service has already proven valuable, he said. In January, police seized about 5 million speed pills in Phrae’s Den Chai district following a tip-off.

In addition, the deputy secretary-general of the ONCB cautioned against participating in drug networks.

Mr. Piyasiri also warned people not to open bank accounts for drug dealers where financial transactions will be conducted as violating the Narcotics Code will result in three years in jail and/or 60,000 baht in fines.

Crime

Police Officer Being Ordained at Temple Arrested for Running Scam Call Center

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.

Police in Chiang Rai Launch Crackdown on Cyber Criminals in Golden Triangle

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/

Crime

Thai Immigration Police Arrest Colombian Tourists Over Home Invasions

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.