Assets worth over THB1 bn seized from suspected drug smugglers
Thai police have seized assets worth over 1 billion baht belonging to suspects involved in drug smuggling operations on the Thailand-Myanmar border in Tak province during 2020-21.
Justice Minister Pol Colonel Tawee Sodsong on Saturday held a press conference to notify the public of the progress of the investigations into seven drug cases from 2020-21, involving a total of 27 suspects from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and China.
In these cases, police had seized several items of narcotics including 11.53 million tablets of methamphetamine, 191.5kg of crystal meth, 160kg of ketamine, and 5kg of marijuana.
Tawee said investigators found that all these cases linked to another suspect, a Myanmar national named Min Min U, who was believed to be responsible for financial transactions for transnational drug smuggling gangs based in Myanmar.
The minister said the investigation eventually led to Min Min U’s arrest on March 6, 2022, after which Thai authorities have been investigating parties related to the suspect and seized their assets to prevent money laundering.
Among the assets seized are properties in Bangkok’s Prawet, Bang Kapi, Phra Khanong, Khlong Toei and Wattana districts, comprising 11 houses and 5 condominiums worth 537 million baht.
Combined with the 517 million baht assets of the suspects previously apprehended, the total value of assets seized from drug gangs related to Min Min U amounted to 1.055 billion baht.
Tawee said Min Min U, who was handed a life sentence by the court, has confessed to laundering money in over 100 accounts by buying gold, cryptocurrencies, and properties for sale and rent.
