Phuket police bust Nigerian overstayers

Phuket police busted Nigerian overstayers in at least two areas of the island province yesterday. Officers from Phuket Immigration and the Phuket Tourist Police caught the group of four men in Chalong and Rawai.

Phuket Tourist Police Deputy Chief Lieutenant Colonel Ekachai Siri said that “good citizens” had alerted police that the men were involved in illegal activities such as romance scams.

Police arrested 34 year old Na Kenneth Chibuso at an unregistered rented room on Soi Palai, Moo 3, in Chalong. He had illegally stayed in Thailand for over 1,207 days.

Another man busted in Chalong was 30 year old James Chinoniaram Onmuyimmao. Police arrested James by the roadside at the entrance of Soi Chao Fa 49. James illegally stayed in Thailand for over 1,469 days.

In Rawai, police arrested Oliver Abazi Uchechukwu on Sai Yuan Soi 9 in Moo 7. Oliver illegally stayed in Thailand for 1,221 days.

Police arrested 31 year old Arinze Ejigu in an unreported location. He illegally stayed in Thailand for 1,236 days, The Phuket News reported.

The suspects had used real estate agents to find places to stay where they could lay low from the general public, such as houses and rented rooms on dead-end streets.

Last year, Thai police started cracking down on overstayers in the country.

On December 27, Thai police busted seven Chinese overstayers in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district. Police didn’t say how long they had the five had overstayed in the kingdom.

On December 21, police busted a British overstayer on Thailand’s island paradise of Koh Samui. The man, 74 year old Dennis Robert Desmond, overstayed his visa by 38 days. Officers arrested Desmond in front of a hotel in Koh Samui’s Bo Phut sub-district, on Choeng Mon-Chaweng Road.

On December 11, police busted a Norwegian man on Koh Samui. The man, 43 year old Jan Banan Thalmann, was caught at a house in the Mae Nam sub-district. Police said Thalmann overstayed his visa by 15 days.