Two Japanese men accused of abducting a compatriot and extorting money from him before physically assaulting and forcing him to eat faeces have been arrested at a resort in Chon Buri.
The suspects are alleged to be members of a Japanese criminal organisation, the yakuza.
Pol Maj Gen Theeradej Thamsuthee, chief of investigation at the Metropolitan Police Bureau, revealed details on Wednesday.
He said the Japanese victim, who was not named, had filed complaints at Phaya Thai and Chok Chai police stations. He said three men abducted him and took him to a house. They demanded 300,000 baht from him, claiming it was a service charge to arrange his visa at Cambodia’s Poipet checkpoint.
The victim said he did not have that much money. He paid the trio 135,000 baht, but they were not satisfied. He was taken to an area of dense grass, where he said they threatened to kill him.
Instead, they took him to a hotel on Kaset-Nawamin Road in Bangkok, and detained him there, the man said in his statement to police.
The complainant said his captors assaulted him overnight in the hotel room before forcing him to eat faeces and demanding more money from him.
When the men briefly lowered their guard, the victim said, he seized the opportunity to contact the Japanese embassy. Police later came to his rescue.
Investigators later identified the three thugs as Niki Fuku, 45; Tomiki Asai, 26, both Japanese nationals; and a Thai man identified only as Pao, 35. Court warrants were obtained for their arrest. Mr Pao was apprehended, but the two Japanese suspects fled.
Police learned that Mr Fuku was a regular user of cannabis, especially the Three Kings strain. After learning Mr Fuku and Mr Asai were hiding out at a resort in Chon Buri, a team went there to arrest them. (continues below)
Police arrest the two Japanese suspects during a raid on two resort rooms in Chon Buri. (Photo supplied/ Wassayos Ngamkham)
Initially, they could not find the two men — until the smell of marijuana smoke led them to two adjacent rooms, where the suspects were arrested.
Police found the cannabis and 130,000 baht inside Mr Fuku’s room. Investigators said Mr Fuku was a close friend of Mr Pao, the first suspect detained, and had given him a huge sum of money.
During questioning, Mr Fuku denied any involvement in the alleged abduction and extortion, police said. He insisted he had neither forced the Japanese complainant to eat faeces, nor had he assaulted him. He told police he had fled on the advice of a lawyer.
He said he loved Thailand and wanted to settle down in the kingdom. He had been arrested in Japan for cannabis offences four times, and had decided to move to Thailand, bringing about one billion yen with him to invest, and opened a cannabis business and a logistics firm here, Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said.
Mr Fuku told police he had given Mr Pao about 135 million baht for investments. He suspected Mr Pao had cheated him.
Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said the suspects showed no fear of the law and their actions had tarnished the image of the country’s tourism sector.
The extended investigation showed that the two Japanese suspects had settled down in Thailand. They sold cannabis and did run a logistics firm, delivering parcels overseas. Hundred of millions of baht moved through their businesses.
Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said they were suspected of involvement in illegal activities. A thorough investigation would be launched.
A police source said Mr Asai denied being a yakuza gangster as alleged. He said he also had a passion for marijuana and decided to move to Thailand to run a business here selling cargo containers and running a marijuana shop with Mr Fuku.
During his stay in Thailand, he claimed, he had lost 1.5 billion yen (about 330 million baht) to an investment fraud in Thailand.
The suspects were held in police custody for legal action.