Police seize assets in major crime sweep

Police seize assets in major crime sweep

drug trafficking suspects targeted in Bangkok and Chiang Mai

Ill-gotten gains: Amlo agents seized several luxury cars in the narcotics and money laundering raids.
Ill-gotten gains: Amlo agents seized several luxury cars in the narcotics and money laundering raids.

A series of dramatic raids on major crime figures and others under investigation for serious criminal offences has resulted in the seizure of hundreds of millions of baht in assets.

With the Central Investigation Bureau coordinating the raids, security officers from the police, military and money laundering agencies swooped on a more than 15 locations in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

Besides houses and luxury cars confiscated from suspected crime lords, the security officials moved to secure a mass of share certificates connected to the Chuwong Sae Tang case, which is now a murder inquiry.

CIB commissioner Thitirat Nongharnphithak took a team of officials and Anti-Money Laundering Office agents on a sweep through premises in Bangkok and Nonthaburi to seize the assets of figures involved in drug trafficking and money-laundering.

The first target was a two-storey house in Soi Nawamin 74 in Bung Kum district that belongs to Anothai Chatwarangkul, who is wanted on money-laundering charges and suspected of being involved with a drug trafficking network.

A 100-strong unit of police and money laundering agents, armed with a search warrant, spent about an hour getting people inside the house to back down and let them in.

A search found six migrant workers in the house and several luxury cars. Ms Anothai was not home and police were told she had gone to Tak's Mae Sot district.

The second target was an office building and warehouse in the same soi which were believed to be part of the drug trafficking network.

Forensic officials and authorities from Amlo searched both and seized documents for examination.

Two other targets were the houses of golf caddie Kanthana Siwathanapol in Nonthaburi and former financial broker Uracha Wachirakulton in Bangkok.

The two women face charges of embezzlement in connection with the suspicious transfer of shares owned by Chuwong to their own accounts.

Police seized a number of documents found in the homes of both women, who had their assets frozen. Amlo officials seized their houses which are worth 15 million baht and a Porsche sedan from Ms Uracha worth six million baht.

Mr Chuwong was killed in a car crash in which former commerce minister Banyin Tangpakorn was the driver last year.

Police suspected foul play when it turned out that the businessman's shares worth 260 million baht were transferred to the accounts of Ms Uracha's mother Srithana Promma and Ms Kanthana.

Ms Uracha is a former broker at AEC Securities Plc, who took care of Chuwong's stock trading account. Pol Lt Col Banyin has been charged with the premeditated murder of Chuwong.

The decision to raid the two women's houses and freeze their assets was made after Amlo found that both could be charged under money laundering laws.

The raid in Chiang Mai, headed by deputy national police chief Pol Gen Chalermkiat Sriworakhan, focused on a drug trafficking network that is suspected of being affiliated with notorious drug dealer Weera Mueanjada.

Mr Weera, who is said to be the son-in-law of Wa Army leader Col Jalorbo and has been sought on an arrest warrant issued in Lop Buri in 2007, is regarded by police as one of the top 10 drug traffickers in Thailand.

A 200-strong task force raided "Wiset 168" pub and restaurant on Nimmanhemin Soi 15 while other teams searched 15 other targets including a motorcycle shop and a fruit orchard in the districts of Muang, Doi Saket and Fang.

Apichart Hathaihat, 28, and Chatdanai Kiatwong, 28, owners of "Wiset 168" were arrested during the raid.

Pol Gen Chalermkiat said the operation was the fourth in the drive to bring down Mr Weera's network which employs more than 100 people and launders drug money through several legitimate businesses.

Authorities have confiscated assets worth more than one billion baht in the four raids, he said.

Amlo said yesterday its board has moved to freeze assets worth 8.15 billion baht in five separate cases.

Amlo's new secretary-general Chaiya Siri-amphankul said the five cases are the Khlong Dan waste water treatment project; the Chuwong murder case; the Klongchan Credit Union embezzlement; the Tranlee Travel Co foreign nominee case in Phuket; and the narcotic case in Nakhon Si Thammarat where police seized 156,000 speed pills and 6kg of crystal methamphetamine in January.

In the Klongchan Credit Union case, Amlo has seized cash worth 50 million baht from the accounts of Wat Phra Dhammakaya and the abbot Phra Dhammajayo, who is accused of money laundering in the credit union embezzlement case.

No barrier: Heavily armed officers storm the house of Kanthana Siwathanapol, a suspect in the Chuwong Sae Tang share case.

She's not here: Police interview six migrant workers found in the house of Anothai Chatwarangkul, a drug trafficking suspect wanted on money-laundering charges.

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