Koh Pha Ngan drug bust: Italian, French, Russian men arrested
Immigration Bureau officers yesterday launched a major operation into foreign drug traffickers on Koh Pha Ngan, an island in the southern province of Surat Thani, resulting in the arrest of Italian, French, and Russian suspects.
Officers from the Immigration Bureau yesterday, December 19 arrested Koh Pha Ngan’s leading drug dealer, reported to be a 36 year old Italian man named Federico Carlo Eugenio Pistolesi.
Investigators uncovered over 71 million baht in earnings from drug sales circulating through Pistolesi’s bank accounts.
The arrest followed an earlier case involving an Englishman named Peter, who was apprehended on March 1. Peter was allegedly found buying drugs from Pistolesi, having transferred over 200,000 baht to the Italian man over the past year.
Following Peter’s arrest, police conducted further investigations into Pistolesi’s operations. Evidence revealed that Pistolesi received substantial amounts of money from local retail drug dealers and users, ultimately leading to his capture yesterday.
During the operation, police seized 24 pieces of evidence, including a bank account with 6.6 million baht in savings, 8 million baht worth of land, a sedan, and narcotics such as cocaine and magic mushrooms.
Officers also discovered that Pistolesi was listed as the managing director of a real estate company. Police are now investigating whether the company was operating legally.
Pistolesi faces three charges under Thailand’s Narcotics Control Act:
- Section 145: Producing, importing, exporting, distributing, or possessing Category 1 narcotics. This carries a penalty of up to 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of between 200,000 and 2 million baht.
- Section 146: Producing, importing, exporting, distributing, or possessing Category 2 narcotics. This carries a penalty of up to 15 years’ imprisonment and a fine of between 200,000 and 1.5 million baht.
- Section 123: Conspiring with two or more persons to commit a serious drug-related offence. This carries a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 500,000 baht.
In addition to Pistolesi, police arrested two foreign tourists who purchased drugs from him: a 37 year old Frenchman named Roman Malik Bertagnol and a 39 year old Russian man named Anton Zaoserov.
According to Channel 7, Zaoserov owned a cleaning service company catering primarily to foreign owners of luxury villas on the island. A Thai woman, identified only as Meena, was found to act as a nominee to facilitate the illegal registration of Zaoserov’s company.
Further investigations revealed that the cleaning service was a front for Zaoserov’s drug dealing operations. Koh Pha Ngan Police Station officers are now pursuing further inquiries into Zaoserov’s illegal activities.
