A man believed to be part of a transnational surrogacy network has been arrested in Nonthaburi for alleged involvement in smuggling frozen human semen into Laos.
Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police arrested Theeraphong Chaisuk in front of a house in tambon Tha Sai of Muang district in Nonthaburi on Friday.
Mr Theeraphong, 33, was wanted on a warrant issued by the Criminal Court in April 2022. He is accused of asking other people to bring prohibited items — specifically semen, eggs or embryos — into and out of the country, CSD commander Pol Maj Gen Montree Theskhan said on Saturday.
The arrest is part of an investigation that began in 2017 with an arrest in the northeastern border province of Nong Khai. Customs officials there arrested a man at the Thai-Lao Friendship bridge while attempting to smuggle a small tank of nitrogen containing six vials of frozen human semen.
It was subsequently found that a major network that included Chinese nationals was hiring people to smuggle human semen to be delivered to clinics in Laos and Cambodia for surrogacy, said Pol Maj Gen Montree.
The clinics used the semen to inseminate Lao or Cambodian women hired to be surrogate mothers.
“Those involved wanted babies to have the nationalities of the surrogate mothers for legal purposes that would be used as a mechanism for laundering money for Chinese nationals running grey businesses,” aid the CSD commander.
“Police investigators have gathered evidence to seek court approval to arrest those involved.”
The arresting team subsequently learned that Mr Theeraphong was among those involved and was in hiding in Nonthaburi.
During questioning, Mr Theeraphong admitted to having been involved in the smuggling of semen. He told police he was responsible for supervising people to deliver semen to clinics in Laos and Cambodia.
Police said he claimed he had done the job from 2014 to 2017, delivering 100 vials of semen at a time, and was paid 16,000 baht for each delivery.
The suspect said surrogacy was not carried out in Thailand because obtaining permits was an uphill task and required high expenses. In neighbouring countries, he said, the laws were less strict and the cost was not high.
The suspect was held in police custody for legal action.