Myanmar junta chief’s family assets found in Thai drug raid

Thai officials found assets belonging to adult children of Myanmar’s junta leader during a raid on the apartment here of a Myanmar tycoon charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, according to an official record and two people with knowledge of the case.

Title deeds and bankbooks belonging to Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter and son were found at the home of Tun Min Latt, 53, when he was arrested in the Thai capital last September along with three Thai nationals on charges of conspiracy to traffic narcotics and money laundering.

Tun Min Latt, who has interests in hotels, energy and mining, is a close associate of Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power from the democratically elected government in February 2021, three sources with knowledge of the matter said last year.

He has procured supplies for the military, the sources said. Publicly available pictures show them together at an arms fair in 2019.

Tun Min Latt is in pre-trial detention. His lawyer could not be reached for comment.

Min Aung Hlaing’s two children faced no legal action over the assets, according to the two people with knowledge of the case.

They added that Thai authorities did not consider them relevant to the investigation into Tun Min Latt.

Min Aung Hlaing’s son, Aung Pyae Sone, and his daughter, Khin Thiri Thet Mon, who, along with their father, have been sanctioned by the United States and Canada, did not respond to requests for comment.

The US said they had businesses that “directly benefited from their father’s position and malign influence”.

Their father could not be reached for comment.

The discovery of the documents indicated close ties between Tun Min Latt and the Myanmar junta chief ’s family.

A spokesman for the activist group Justice for Myanmar said the discovery also indicated Min Aung Hlaing’s family was hiding assets in Thailand and urged the Thai government to take “urgent action to prevent it from becoming a safe haven for Myanmar war criminals”.