Chinese businessman allegedly behind 10 million baht worth of fake auto parts in Thailand

A Chinese businessman allegedly ran a warehouse with counterfeit auto parts in Thailand.

Yesterday, police and officials seized about 200,000 counterfeit auto parts worth around 10 million baht in Thailand’s central Nakhon Pathom province. Local police, economic crime suppression police, and other officials raided a warehouse in the Nakhon Chaisi district.

The team arrested the building’s caretaker, 24 year old Sunthorn, who said he was hired by a Chinese businessman to take care of the items.

The team conducted the raid after an investigation found that the warehouse was being used to store the fake car and motorcycle parts for delivery to auto parts shops and garages. The goods were also being sold online at prices below-market prices, Bangkok Post reported.

According to officials, the seized goods were falsely labelled with brand names such as Honda, Yamaha and NSK. The search was conducted based on a warrant issued by Nakhon Pathom Provincial Court.

Sunthorn was held in police custody for legal action. He confirmed that the goods were intended for delivery through social media platforms.

There has been a recent series of illegal Chinese operations involving counterfeit items.

On February 17, Thai cops busted a Chinese man in Bangkok over counterfeit electronics that cost over 20 million baht. Officers from the Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) found fake phones and electronic devices in a raid at a warehouse in the Don Mueang district.

The team searched three buildings and found Huang Yiqun, a 56 year old Chinese national, working as the warehouse caretaker and four Laotian workers. Huang revealed that he was hired by an unidentified Chinese businessman to manage the products in the warehouse. He admitted that the items were counterfeit products sold online. The police arrested Huang and charged him with possession of counterfeit products.

The week before that, Thai police swooped on yet another illegal Chinese business operation. Officers from the Consumer Protection Division (CPD) in Thailand conducted searches in two different locations in Prawet District in Bangkok and Samut Prakan province. They seized counterfeit cosmetics and low-quality medical supplies worth an estimated 14 million baht.

Some 67,000 counterfeit cosmetics, fake toothpaste, and substandard medical equipment and rubber gloves were found at the warehouse in Samut Prakan and the packaging office in Prawet District.

During the raids, a Chinese national was discovered at one of the two locations and taken into custody. The arrested individual, identified only as “Zhong,” claimed to be merely an employee tasked with caring for the products, which had been imported from China.