Authorities on Wednesday announced the arrest of an Iranian accused of leading one of the largest passport-forgery networks in Thailand, an operation with global links, for more than a decade.
Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officials and police seized forgery equipment and 1,053 stolen passports involving 65 nationalities, mostly European, during the arrest on Sunday, said Pol Col Songsak Raksaksakul, the DSI commissioner for transnational crimes.
Murel Gurat, 45, was apprehended at a seaside house in Chon Buri province after two years of investigation by DSI officials, Pol Col Songsak said.
He said Mr Gurat's network had been operating in Thailand for more than a decade and was connected to groups of Bangladeshi and Pakistani forgers who were arrested earlier.
Thailand was once again in the spotlight as a hub for document forgery last year after two of the passengers on vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were found to have boarded the plane using false identities based on passports stolen from tourists in Thailand.
"I have never seen more than 1,000 stolen passports from 65 countries in one place before. This is the evidence that shows this network is well connected to other groups of forgers all over the world," Pol Col Songsak told reporters at a press conference.
Officials said the group sold, bought and forged passports for those wanting to travel to a third country for various purposes under a false identity, but the authorities' major concern was about terrorism and transnational crimes.
Mr Gurat is facing multiple charges, including forging passports, falsifying documents and receiving stolen property - offences that carry a maximum prison term of 10 years. Mr Gurat had a fake passport himself under the name Esrafil Bondar, officials said.
Police said no attorney had yet come forward to represent Mr Gurat.