Burmese drug kingpin arrested in luxury condo raid in Thailand

A Burmese drug kingpin was arrested in a luxury condo raid in Thailand.

Aung Zaw Min Khant allegedly ran a major trafficking operation involving the smuggling of nearly five million methamphetamine pills, 12.4kg of heroin and 1kg of crystal meth in Myanmar.

The drugs had an estimated value of around 150million baht and a court in Myanmar issued an arrest warrant for Aung in February.

But he fled to neighbouring Thailand to evade arrest on December 31 last year. He was allowed to stay because of family ties in the country.

Immigration and anti-narcotics police tracked down the alleged drug lord after Thai authorities learned he was wanted over the large-scale drug trafficking case.

They tracked him to a luxury condominium in Bangkok's Rama 9 area on October 4.

The suspect was arrested inside the property, where officers also found luxury watches, designer handbags and a Lexus with an auctioned licence plate.

They also discovered documents showing he owned another luxury condominium in the Rama 9 area, which was being rented to a third party.

Police said the assets seized were worth more than 10 million baht and will be investigated over possible links to drug trafficking and money laundering.

Thai authorities said they will work with the Anti-Money Laundering Office to trace the suspect's financial records and identify any further assets linked to the alleged criminal network.

Police Major General Thanit Thaiwatcharamas, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, said Aung was taken into custody for further legal proceedings.

He said: 'We seized the related assets for inspection, valued at approximately 10 million baht, as there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be linked to drug-related offences and money laundering.

‘We will coordinate with the Anti-Money Laundering Office and relevant agencies to trace financial trails and proceed with further legal action.

‘After the arrest, we handed over the suspect to Division 3 of the Immigration Bureau's Investigation Division for further legal proceedings.'

Thailand has become a notorious hub for drug use, production, and trafficking. In the north of the country, the ‘Golden Triangle' area shares borders with Laos and Myanmar, and has produced large amounts of opium since the 1950s but focus in recent years has shifted to the more profitable methamphetamine.

Officials believe most of the meth is produced in the Shan State of Myanmar before being distributed through neighbouring countries where prices are higher before ending up in the most expensive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

However, cracking down on drug production has been complicated by the influx of crime gangs from China and the Burmese civil war, which has seen the army take over the country - along with control of lucrative drugs chains.