Thai and Burmese authorities detain 81 in search for drug gang
by Natthawat Laping
“Is wanted Thai drug trafficker 30 year old Pannawit Pathum among the group?”
Burmese authorities have conducted raids at entertainment venues, hotels, resorts and residential communities near the Thai-Myannar border opposite Chiang Rai’s Mae Fah Luang district and rounded up 81 Thai nationals who had illegally entered the country.
Chiang Rai Immigration superintendent Pol Colonel Ekkorn Busababodin said that the raids by police and officials from Myanmar’s Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) in the town of Mong Hsat rounded up 48 Thai men and 33 Thai women who lacked proper immigration documents.
As the 81 are currently being detained for further questioning at Mong Hsat City Hall officials are trying to determine if any are wanted criminals.
They are especially keen to ascertain whether the group contains Thai drug trafficker 30 year old Pannawit Pathum who is better known by his Facebook name “Theppabut Solo”, or 5-6 gang members.
Pannawit is thought to have fled to Myanmar after an arrest warrant was issued for him for allegedly masterminding the murder of a 17 year old Khon Kaen youth on January 14 over an apparently unpaid drug debt.
SOURCE: The Nation
