The leader of a passport forgery gang who fled to Thailand to escape capture in his home country of China has been arrested in Sathon district of Bangkok, police say.
Immigration police arrested the suspect identified only as Chun at a condominium room on Suan Phlu Road, Pol Maj Gen Phanthana Nutchanart, the deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said on Wednesday.
The suspect was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on April 17 for falsifying passports and using them. He claimed to have Surinamese nationality, but authorities later checked and found that he was a Chinese national
Immigration Division 4 had learned earlier that a foreign gang was forging passports and helping people to enter the country illegally. Investigators subsequently sought approval from the Bangkok South Criminal Court to search a condominium in the Sathon area and found Mr Chun there.
He produced documents showing that he was the tenant of the room. Documents including a driving licence, bank passbooks and copies of passports were found inside the room, said Pol Maj Gen Phanthana.
Among the documents seized was a Taiwanese passport in Mr Chun’s name, but a check with Taiwanese authorities confirmed it was fake.
The bureau also coordinated with Chinese authorities to help check Mr Chun’s records. It was confirmed that he was a Chinese national wanted for leading a passport forgery gang. He later fled to other countries using fake passports before arriving in Thailand, said Pol Maj Gen Phanthana.