A drug family has been arrested in Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. Officials have seized over 200 Million THB worth of assets from the family.
The drug dealers have opened a “20 baht store” where all items inside are priced at 20 THB similar to the concept of a dollar store as a cover-up to their true source of high income.
Officials from the Narcotics Suppression Bureau inspected a home under a search warrant with the goal to arrest the drug dealers. Wanpen the wife was arrested in the home but Sawang was gone.
Investigation revealed that they are part of a big drug-smuggling gang, bringing drugs into the Kingdom from neighboring countries. The drugs are then moved from the North of Thailand down to the south.
Officials entered the home and found Wanpen along with about 10 other persons inside but Sawang was not there.
Wanpen stated that some of the people in the home are relatives, some she just met in Samui, Surat Thani Province. These are strangers who asked for a place to stay. The suspect claims that these people have nothing to do with her drug business.
Wanpen states that she sells souvenirs to tourists. She states this is not her home but she helps pay the installments and has been living here for over 10 years. Wanpen is Sawang’s 3rd wife and he is usually at home but he happened to be away in another province when the police inspected the home.
Officials do not believe her claims as there is evidence proving a connection between Wanpen and Sawang to another drug group that was arrested previously in Kamphaeng Phet Province.
The group was arrested on 3 March 2020 with evidence including 5 Million Yaba pills. There have been calls made to and from Wanpan’s phone, along with bank receipts showing money transfers between them.
Sawang used to live in the North before he became a drug smuggler. He finds the drugs and brings them into Thailand.
Thanks to his knowledge in the areas up North, Sawang has found many natural passageways for the drugs to be smuggled in. Sawang moved to Hua Hin 2 years ago and opened up a 20 baht store as a fake front for his drug business.
Sawang’s drug family has an impressive collection of assets including 24 luxury homes, 5 commercial buildings, 12 land title deeds, 22 cars, and 27 motorbikes, worth more than 200 Million THB. The assets were all registered in his relative’s names.
This article was first published in Thai Residents
