Live snakes seized in raids as triad crackdown expands to Phuket

POLICE expanded their investigations into businesses they believe are linked to suspected narcotics kingpin Chainat Kornchayanan to Phuket, where raids on several companies linked to him resulted in the seizure of vehicles, computers and live snakes late Wednesday night.

The raids took place one day after the fourth of his five alleged “lieutenants” was arrested in Bangkok and property registered under his name was seized in Samut Prakan.

Chainat – a Chinese national who acquired Thai citizenship after marrying a police colonel – denied the charges when he turned himself in to police on Nov 23 after an arrest warrant was issued for him.

The raids in Phuket’s Wichit subdistrict targeted eight businesses police said were linked to Chainat, who they have described as the leader of a triad in Thailand. A joint force of Narcotics, Immigration, Tourism and Region 8 police conducted the investigation and raids.

Six of the eight registered companies under investigation had shut down during the pandemic, and the remaining two – both jewellery shops – had yet to start operating.

The six companies raided comprised two leatherwear sellers, a construction contractor, and three stores: one that sold beds and mattresses, another that sold bird nests, and a third that sold traditional medicine made from snakes.

Security guards said that most of the business’s assets had been previously removed from their premises by their owners.

Police seized what was left: seven cars, one truck, 86 beds with mattresses, computers and live snakes that had been kept in glass tanks.

The crackdown was launched after former massage parlour tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit told police that Chainat ran five criminal networks in Thailand. — The Nation/ann