The Criminal Court has approved a police request to detain suspected Lao drug gang leader Xaysana Keopimpha for 12 more days to allow investigators more time to gather evidence.
Mr Xaysaya and three other suspects were taken from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) to the court on Monday to seek approval on keeping them for 12 more days after their detention with police expired.
The court granted the request and police handed them over to Corrections Department officials to be detained at the Central Correctional Institution for Drug Addicts in Bangkok's Chatuchak district.
Alleged drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha is brought to the Criminal Court on Monday. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)
Police opposed their bail requests as their release could obstruct the investigation and damage the evidence.
Mr Xaysana, 41, and his gang members are facing charges of possessing, trafficking and dealing drugs.
They were arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport on Thursday after arriving from Phuket. The capture highlighted attempts of authorities led by the NSB and Office of Narcotics Control Board who tracked his movement for five years.
An interception of drug trafficking on Sept 30 substantiated the authorities' theory that he was the man behind a network selling methamphetamine pills in Thailand and as far afield as Malaysia and Singapore.
His gang, with 1.2 million pills of ya ba hidden in a van, was arrested in Sikhiu district in Nakhon Ratchasima on Sept 30. Police targeted the vehicle after it went to Laos from Nong Khai a day earlier and returned to Thailand the next day. The vehicle was shadowed by police all the way until they decided to order it to pull over at a checkpoint in Sikhiu.
The methamphetamine pills seized from the van were destined for Hat Yai in Songkhla province and Malaysia. It led to other arrests in Bangkok and Hat Yai district in Songkhla to cripple the network with the information giving authorities getting closer to the mastermind.
Five associates of Mr Xaysana are being hunted by police and more assets will be seized, in addition to those worth more than 100 million baht having been confiscated from several arrests.
NSB commander Pol Lt Gen Sommai Kongwisaisook said at the court on Monday that all other assets will be on the target to be seized.