Malaysian drug kingpin arrested in Laos with US$2.5 million in assets seized
- The 41-year-old had worked with drug networks across Thailand, Malaysia, China, Singapore and Laos since 2006, Thai police said
- Among the man’s extensive assets seized by police were three yachts, two cars, a parcel of land with a building, firearms and cash
The 41-year-old, who has not been named, was arrested in Vientiane on December 29 following a joint Thai-Laotian police operation.
Police also seized the man’s extensive assets, which included two condominium units, three yachts, two cars, three motorbikes, a parcel of land with a building, firearms, cash and other valuables, spread across Bangkok and the provinces of Trat, Chiang Rai, and Chonburi, Panurat said.
The total estimated value of the seized assets was 85 million baht (US$2.5 million).
“He also used Thailand for both money laundering and as a transit point for smuggling drugs, including to third countries like Malaysia, Taiwan and Australia,” said Panurat, according to Malaysian state news agency Bernama.
“The arrest is a result of the continuous investigation and close coordination between the Thai, Malaysian, and Laotian enforcement agencies,” he said in a statement.
The man was also the main suspect in a major drug bust last year: the seizure in June of 998kg of crystal methamphetamine and the arrest of seven suspects in Ratchaburi province.
An arrest warrant was subsequently issued for him in August of the same year.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, the Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) said that initial investigations revealed that the man was from Parit Buntar, Perak and is believed to also have ties to a drug syndicate in Malaysia.
“The police, in particular the NCID, will work together with the ONCB and Laos police in conducting follow-up investigations on this case,” said NCID director Mohd Kamarudin Md Din.
“ONCB has recommended to Laos police that the suspect be deported to Thailand because he has been blacklisted under Thailand’s drug offences act.”
