Wanted Russian man arrested at airport for shooting in Phuket

Immigration police arrested a wanted Russian man at Phuket International Airport on December 25 for hiring a Kazakh man to shoot another Russian man in Phuket in June this year.

A Russian victim, 44 year old Dmitry Aleynikov, was shot outside a coffee shop called Cafe Waya in the Thalang district of Phuket on June 7. Fortunately, the bullet did not hit a vital organ, and Aleynikov was treated and safe.

Police later arrested a Kazakh gunman, identified only as Artur, on June 8 and found that Artur was hired by the Russian man, 53 year old Alexander, to kill Aleynikov. Alexander managed to evade arrest and fled the country about seven months ago.

Officers from the Immigration Bureau later received a tip-off that Alexander would enter Thailand through Phuket Airport on December 25. They checked its Advanced Passenger Processing System (APPS) and discovered that Alexander would arrive in Phuket on an Aeroflot SU274 flight from Moscow’s Domodedovo International Airport at 10.20pm.

Alexander was charged under Section 84 of the Criminal Law: hiring, asking, forcing, or threatening another person to commit any offence. The penalty would be the same as for the hired person committing the crime.

In this case, the Kazakh gunman was charged with attempted murder, so Alexander would face the same punishment.

Suspects charged with attempted murder would face half the sentence for intentional murder. According to Section 288 of the Criminal Laws: whoever murders others shall be punished with life imprisonment or imprisonment from 15 to 20 years.

Immigration police also updated another successful case during the press conference yesterday, December 27. They arrested a wanted Thai man, 38 year old Ekkasit, for aiding illegal foreigners to evade arrest. The penalty would be up to five years in jail and a fine of up to 50,000 baht.

Another Russian man, 38 year old Vladmin Dereviannykh, was recently arrested in Chon Buri after after smashing a car and assaulting a Thai man.