Lamborghini, assets seized in probe of alleged drug network

Police arrested Xaysana at Suvarnabhumi Airport on January 19, believing him to be a major drug kingpin from Laos, after an intense investigation into his alleged network in Thailand.
Thai national Nattapon Nakkam was also arrested earlier this month due to his connection with Xaysana.
“Among his frozen assets are a Lamborghini, a Toyota Fortuner, big bikes and more. We have to check if they are ill-gotten gains from the drug trade,” Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB)’s deputy chief Pol Maj-General Pornchai Charoenwong said yesterday.
Nattapon has told police he bought the Lamborghini under the name of famous motorcycle racer Akarakit “Benz Racing” Worarojcharoendet.
Pol Maj-General Chatree Paisansilp, another deputy chief of the NSB, said Akarakit would be summoned for questioning again before the end of the month.
He said police would seek help from agencies such as the Land Transport Department, the Customs Department and the International Trade Promotion Department to determine whether the vehicle was imported legitimately.
The Office of the Police Forensic Science is now examining the Lamborghini.
Regarding the recent arrest of a Malaysian drug suspect, Kamarudin bin Awang, in Malaysia’s Kelantan state, Chatree said the NSB believed the suspect might have been known to Zainudeng Ma, an alleged drug trafficker in Thailand.
Chatree said: “We have been following Zainudeng’s movements for well over five years. We are now asking for permission from the Malaysian authorities to interrogate Kamarudin.
“We can dispatch a team to question him [in Malaysia], but later on we may also ask for his extradition.”
Zainudeng is the son-in-law of Marining Jako, known as “Ma Sibor” in Thailand, who allegedly operated a large-scale drug network.
Regarding reports that people had alerted police about an orange Lamborghini and a black Bentley without licence plates parked conspicuously at a Bangkok condo, Chatree said the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s unit focused on car thefts had parked the vehicles there pending an investigation.
Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Maj General Surachai Kuantechakupt said these two luxury cars were not related to Xaysana.
“The Lamborghini was taken into custody since 2014, and the Bentley last April, both on grounds of tax evasion,” he said.