Ham handed: 2 Thai men arrested on illegal pork imports, over 10 officials found involved

Two Thai men surrendered to police over illegal pork imports after fleeing Thailand to evade the arrest. More than 10 government officials were found to be involved in the illegal operation.

Recently, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Srettha Thavisin, expressed his dissatisfaction with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) for the delay in investigating and arresting suspects in the illegal pork import case.

The director of the DSI, Suriya Singhakamon, insisted to the public yesterday, November 14, that his officers conducted an investigation and arrest according to their procedures, which was not considered a delay. Some of the results of the investigation have been kept secret to avoid any impact on the case, so not much has been reported to the public.

Suriya also informed the media about the recent arrest of two main suspects in the case. According to the report, the DSI had previously seized 161 containers of illegal pork and arrested six suspects involved in the illegal operation.

After further investigation and interrogation of each suspect, the DSI issued two more arrest warrants for 69 year old Wirat Phurichat and his son, 42 year old Thanakrit Phurichat, for hiring shipping companies to import and store illegally imported pork.

The two reportedly evaded arrest by travelling out of Thailand but had recently returned and agreed to surrender. DSI officers arrested the pair at Suvarnabhumi International Airport yesterday afternoon.

No permit

Wirat is the owner of Wealthy & Healthy Foods and The Good Shop. He and his son hired three to four purchasing companies to import pork from the ship without a permit. The illegal pork was declared as frozen fish and other goods to avoid paying duties and inspections.

Suriya revealed that the officers questioned the two suspects and discovered that more than 10 government officials were facilitating the illegal import of pork. The officers knew all the identities and had financial transactions as evidence, but the details could not be revealed at this time.

According to the DSI, the two suspects face three charges, including:

• Section 243 of the Customs Act: importing or exporting goods in any manner to evade or attempt to evade payment of customs duty. The penalty is imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to four times the amount of duty, or both.
• Section 244 of the Customs Act: importing goods subject to restrictions and prohibitions. The penalty is imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to 500,000 baht, or both.
• Section 31, in conjunction with Section 68, of the Animal Disease Act: Importing animal carcasses without a permit. The penalty is imprisonment for up to two years, a fine of up to 200,000 baht, or both.