Cops nab Africans on tip-off
A gang of more than 20 African suspects allegedly involved in drug trafficking have been arrested near the popular RCA night entertainment hub following a tip-off.
Investigators, who yesterday surrounded and raided i-House Condominium where the suspects stayed, believe an Ethiopian man they apprehended was the gang leader.
The officers are further looking into their alleged links to the drugs trade after an initial inspection at their residences found many of them had violated the Immigration Act, Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn Prousoontorn said after yesterday’s operation.
All the suspects are being detained by immigration police for questioning.
The African gang came under police surveillance after the Immigration Bureau last month arrested several Africans, who were allegedly using Thailand as a base for forging fake Thai visas.
Those arrests helped the investigators get wind of an illegal plot allegedly being hatched at a condominium on Rama IX Road, close to the Royal City Avenue, popularly known as RCA.
“We first sent our informers to observe their activities and found out that some of them might be involved in the drugs trade,” Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn said, adding that local police had also received complaints that the gang had been causing some disturbances in the area.
Transnational criminal gangs have been put on the Immigration Bureau’s list for crackdown operations after the agency apprehended some foreigners conducting illegal activities while visiting the country on tourist visas.
Police are now planning more operations in other areas, both in Bangkok and other provinces.
Chanthaburi has been put on the agency’s watch list because of the presence of a large number of Africans in the coastal province, Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn said. He insisted police will “stamp out all foreign criminal gangs” to ensure a safer environment in the country.