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A fugitive drug lord in Thailand who evaded authorities for months by remodeling himself to go as a Korean man was lastly arrested by the native police in Bangkok on Thursday.
The 25-year-old suspect, recognized as Saharat Sawangjaeng, underwent multiple plastic surgeries and adopted the alias “Jimin Cheong” to efficiently elude arrest after being on the run since Dec. 2022.
Sawangjaeng is accused of importing the psychoactive drug methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), generally seen in pill type (ecstasy) and crystal type (molly), from the Netherlands and different elements of Europe to Thailand. The Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) considers him “one of many predominant causes of Bangkok’s MDMA epidemic.”
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Investigators monitoring the motion of ecstasy to native distributors throughout Bangkok traced the medication to what witnesses described as a “good-looking Korean man.“
An undercover officer posing as a prospective drug mule ultimately led to his arrest at a condominium in Bangkok’s Bang Na district. The officers had been shocked to uncover that the “Korean man” they arrested was the identical man they arrested thrice earlier than as “none of his unique face was left.”
In his earlier arrest over an assault cost, police recovered 290 ecstasy tablets and 4.4 kilos of narcotics in liquid type in his possession. He managed to escape detention and commenced altering his look to keep away from arrest.
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After being apprehended final week, Sawangjaeng instructed authorities that he was bored with his life in Thailand and needed to begin a brand new life by transferring to South Korea.
Upon questioning, the suspect admitted to utilizing Bitcoin to buy medication on the Darkish Internet and promoting them to native patrons in Bangkok. He has since been charged with the unlawful importation of narcotics.
In accordance to Thai police, Sawangjaeng’s arrest opens up the native investigation into more suspects from international nations concerned within the unlawful drug commerce.
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