Thai police swoop to close down another illegal Chinese operation
Thai police swooped on yet another illegal Chinese business operation, leading to the arrest of one man. Officers from the Consumer Protection Division (CPD) in Thailand conducted searches in two different locations in Prawet District in Bangkok and Samut Prakan province and seized counterfeit cosmetics and low-quality medical supplies worth an estimated 14 million baht.
During the raids, a Chinese national was discovered at one of the two locations and was taken into custody, reported Thai PBS.
The raids were a result of an investigation conducted by the Consumer Protection Division (CPD) after receiving complaints from legitimate cosmetic producers about the availability of imitation products online for the past three months.
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.
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.
Pol Maj-Gen Anan Nanasombat, the commander of the Consumer Protection Division police, stated that the proprietor of the counterfeit goods is a Chinese man and that all the merchandise came from China and was sold online to approximately 15 Thai traders.
On the other hand, Weerachai Nolwachai, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Thai Food and Drug Administration, advised that any products being sold at remarkably low prices should be presumed to be fake.
The incident is one of several in the public eye over the past several months. The most high profile of these involves Chinese businessman Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant
Tuhao and 40 accomplices were indicted in Bangkok on January 19 on a wide variety of charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering.
Just over a week later Police arrested an associate of Tuhao over an arson attack on January 27, over a decade after he allegedly committed his crime.
The suspect, 42 year old Surachai, was allegedly involved in attacking a security guard and setting fire to a snake farm in Phuket on April 23, 2012.
Tuhao’s alleged criminal activities came to the public’s attention in November when police seized eight businesses in Phuket, southern Thailand, owned by the notorious Chinese gangster.
The eight businesses each spanned 10 rai of land in Phuket’s Mueang district, including a jewellery company featuring a snake farm, two real estate companies, a latex company, a herbal medicine company, and an Internet installation service.
Tuhao’s wife, Pol Col Wanthanaree Kornchayanant, was dismissed from the Royal Thai Police, along with five other officers suspected of illegal involvement with her husband.
The Chinese underworld continues to weave its crooked web but it appears that the Thai police are making progress in cracking down on their criminal activities.
