Crime

Top Police Officer in Thailand Linked in Murder Spree of Cyanide Killer

CSD Police Investigators in Thailand have uncovered compelling evidence linking a police officer to the alleged cyanide killer who’s suspected of poisoning over 20 people. Police have already linked Ms. Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn to 14 deaths through cyanide poisoning.

Deputy National Police Chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn told the Bangkok Post on Tuesday that an application for an arrest warrant for the unnamed officer would be made in the coming days. He didn’t say anything further.

According to an informed source, investigators from Provincial Police Region 7 were anticipated to request for a warrant for Pol Lt Col Withoon Rangsiwuthaporn, the key suspect’s former husband.

According to the source, investigators discovered that millions of baht had been transferred from her bank accounts to the police officer’s bank accounts. According to the source, investigators were still gathering evidence to support the court application.

Investigators from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) questioned Pol Lt Col Withoon, deputy superintendent of the Suan Phueng police station in Ratchaburi, for the second time on Tuesday.

The officer previously told investigators that he and Ms Sararat separated three years ago, but they continued to live in the same house because they needed to help each other care for their two children. They slept in different rooms.

During that time, Pol Lt Col Withoon loaned money to his ex-wife. When she made profits, she allegedly transferred the funds back to him, but the amounts were not large.

Investigators are exhaustively investigating the pair’s financial trail. They’re also trying to figure out if Pol Lt Col Withoon was present when Ms Sararat committed the crimes she’s accused of.

cyanide killer thailand

Source of poison for cyanide killer

Police searched the premises of a firm in Lat Krabang where the suspect is suspected to have obtained the cyanide on Tuesday morning. Officers examined two four-story commercial buildings of the company, which distributes chemicals and laboratory equipment. The search results were not made public.

Investigators want to collaborate with the Department of Industrial Works and the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the company’s importation of the dangerous chemical, as well as its goals for doing so, according to Pol Gen Surachate.

“If it is found to be involved, legal action will be taken,” he stated.

Dr. Weerachai Phutdhawong, an associate professor of chemistry at Kasetsart University, stated on Tuesday that police had sent roughly 400 pieces of evidence in the case to be tested in a laboratory. By Friday, all tests would be completed. Initially discovered cyanide traces in some items. Police would release the test findings later, he said.

cyanide killer thailand

15 deaths linked to cyanide killer

On Tuesday, Pol Gen Surachate stated that the probe was proceeding smoothly. There were now 14 purported victims who had died and one survivor.

Investigators have arrest orders for Ms Sararat in ten cases so far, he said.

Ms Sararat, 36, called “Aem Cyanide,” was apprehended on April 25 at the government building on Chaeng Watthana Road in Bangkok on a Criminal Court warrant. She is currently four months pregnant and is being imprisoned at the Central Women’s Correctional Institute without bail.

“I assure you that police have sufficient evidence to charge ‘Aem’ in all cases.” “There is circumstantial evidence as well as autopsy results,” said Pol Gen Surachate on Tuesday.

The arrest came when the mother and elder sister of the late Siriporn “Koy” Khanwong, 32, of Kanchanaburi, submitted a complaint. On April 14, Siriporn fell and died on the bank of the Mae Klong river in Ratchaburi’s Ban Pong district, where she had gone with Ms Sararat to release fish for merit-making. Cyanide was discovered in her body.

Investigators believe Ms Sararat put cyanide in Siriporn’s food, which killed her. She is also accused of stealing from the victim.

cyanide killer thailand

Autopsies must be performed

According to Pol Gen Surachate, officials also have information on additional people who had touch with the suspect and died as a result. Police were looking into whether they were victims.

He requested that relatives of victims who died after meeting and eating with the suspect contact him at the Royal Thai Police Sports Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.

The deputy police chief also requested that police station commanders in the locations where the murders happened conduct additional investigations into other incidents of unnatural deaths, such as if people’s hands or fingernails had gone green.

Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, the national police head, would meet with the investigative teams on Wednesday. Ms. Sararat’s 15th poisoning victim, the mother of a woman who died in Bangkok seven years ago, met with CSD investigators on Monday.

Ms Ladda, 64, stated that her daughter Montathip, also known as Sai, 37, died seven years ago in Bangkok. She reportedly informed authorities that she believed Ms Sararat was responsible for her death, despite the fact that she had no evidence to back up her claim.

Ms Sararat is also suspected of murdering her partner, Sutthisak “Dae” Phoonkhwan, with whom she established a relationship after divorcing her husband.

Sutthisak, 35, died in Udon Thani on March 12 of this year. He passed out at a petrol station in the northeastern province’s Nong Han district after making merit with Ms Sararat at a local temple and eating at a restaurant.

He was brought to Nong Han Hospital by rescue workers, where he was treated and eventually discharged. But he died later that day in a dormitory in Udon Thani’s Muang district.

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.