2 excise officers arrested in 300,000 baht ransom kidnapping case

Two excise officers and one of their friends were arrested yesterday after they kidnapped a phone shop worker and held her to a 300,000 baht ransom in the central province of Samut Prakarn.

A Chinese man, Wu Yiwen, filed a complaint at Mueang Samut Prakarn Police Station yesterday at 3.30pm.

The 31 year old said the kidnapping incident happened at his phone shop in Soi U-Thong in the central province of Samut Prakarn yesterday afternoon. His Burmese employee, a 21 year old woman called Monthira Jaiprom, was apprehended by about six people who claimed to be officers from the Excise Department.

The group shoved Monthira in the car, drove to the Samut Prakarn Provincial Excise Office and parked up. They did not take her inside or go inside themselves. Then, they asked Monthira to call Yiwen.

Through the kidnapped girl, the group told Yiwen that his phone shop was selling illegal goods and demanded 300,000 baht.

Yiwen told police that he negotiated with the group and they accepted a reduced fee of 50,000 baht. The group told him that he could trade the money for the girl at a petrol station near the Royal Thai Naval Academy.

Yiwen added that he opened the phone shop a long time ago and faced similar cases in the past. People turned up claiming to be government officers and demanded money from him. He would often pay because he did not want to have any problems with the authorities.

The kidnapping situation was different, however, more dangerous.

The police agreed to set up a sting to catch out the kidnappers. Officers hid and monitored the situation while Yiwen went to the meeting point and handed over the money to the group.

The police managed to arrest three of the suspects while three others fled in a car when officers revealed themselves. They were taken for questioning.

Police told the press that two of the group were excise officers but did not disclose their identities.

The investigation and search for other members of the group continue.

This case is similar to a ransom kidnapping by Cybercrime Police last year. Two officers from the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau were finally arrested after they kidnapped a family for ransom after the family won a 2 million baht prize from online gambling.