A Philippine man accused of stealing a 250,000-baht diamond necklace in Bangkok and then fleeing the country has been arrested at Suvarnabhumi airport on his return, five months after the crime.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) arrested Rolly Sabalza, 49, at the airport on Thursday, said Pol Maj Gen Theeradet Thumsuthee, investigative commander of the MPB.
He was wanted on a warrant issued by the Bangkok South Criminal Court on charges of theft by false pretences.
The theft of the diamond-studded necklace took place in a store at a shopping mall in the Pathumwan area of Bangkok on March 25. Security cameras captured the incident, said Pol Maj Gen Theeradet.
Mr Sabalza left Thailand on the day of the theft. Investigators who had been monitoring his movements learned he was planning to travel to Thailand on Thursday morning to commit another crime. When he arrived at the airport, the officers took him into custody.
The suspect reportedly admitted to being the person in the CCTV footage from the jewellery store.
Pol Maj Gen Theeradet warned operators and staff of gold and jewellery shops to exercise more caution when seeing well-dressed people posing as customers, as they might turn out to be criminals.
He suggested that staff ask customers to show their ID cards or passports when they want to see their products. As well, he recommended that stores install high-resolution CCTV and alarms that staff can use to send signals to nearby police stations.