Pakistani arrested for forgery
Immigration police have arrested Pakistani national Rais Ahmed Buksh, alias Jimmy Raees, along with his wife and son, on suspicion of involvement in human trafficking, the forgery of currency, passports and visas and drug smuggling.
The arrests in Bangkok on Thursday follow the arrest of Mohammad Iqbal, 52, on Jan 14, also in Bangkok, for possession of false Singaporean and Indian passports as well as plates and laminates to forge entry visas to France, Italy and Spain.
The two men are suspected of circulating counterfeit currency from Thailand and human trafficking into the US, Canada, Afghanistan and India.
The arrests followed an investigation involving the Armed Forces Service Centre of Thailand, the Immigration Bureau and the Office of the Narcotics Control Board.
Police also seized about 360 grammes of ketamine. They believe it was smuggled from Pakistan dissolved in liquid, then crystallised in the suspect’s kitchen lab and distributed at entertainment venues in Thailand.
Mr Raees has a restaurant called “Gulmolas” in Soi Ramkhamhang 24, and police believe it was used to launder the money.
Also yesterday, immigration police announced the arrests of two other foreign nationals, one a Russian and the other a Malaysian.
Police nabbed Rustam Abdurakhmanov, 35, in Bang Rak district of Bangkok on Tuesday. He faces charges in Russia of robbery and using a vehicle with fake number plates. After he committed the crimes, he escaped from Russia and stayed in South Korea for a while before coming to Thailand.
According to Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Sutthipong Wongpin, the suspect had allegedly used fake firearms to rob people three times and fled in a getaway vehicle with a fake number plate in Russia between December 2014 and April 2015. Mr Abdurakhmanov stole a combined 2.1 million roubles (1.2 million baht) before going into hiding in South Korea. He later arrived in Thailand in October 2016.
The bureau also announced the arrest on Monday of a Malaysian man, identified as Tang Woanjen, 40, accused of masterminding the killing of a fellow Malaysian businessman in Hat Yai district of Songkhla on Dec 4, 2015.
Pol Lt Gen Sutthipong said Mr Tang allegedly hired three Thais to murder Lee Ah Han, 44. The gunman, Ekkapon Inthakaew, was arrested for being paid by Mr Tang to assassinate Lee in his car. Lee’s Thai wife, Mayuree Thipmanee, was also injured.
Mr Tang had fled to Canada but returned to Thailand through a natural border with Laos, which meant he did not pass through immigration control, on March 16.