Daylight shrubbery! Police pose as gardeners to lure reclusive Finnish fugitive, 69, out of his home
Police posed as gardeners to lure an elusive Finnish fugitive out of his home.
Officers donned the disguises to get a positive identification of hermit Jorma Kari Leppaeniemi, 69, from Kauhajoki, Finland, who was wanted by Interpol.
They said the alleged fugitive never left his proprty and refused to open the door to strangers. He reportedly relied on food deliveries placed in a box and had covered the front windows to keep anyone from seeing inside.
Investigators later learned from a local gardener that he would emerge whenever workers trimmed trees outside the home to warn them about overhead power lines.
Police then staged an undercover operation, posing as gardeners carrying out routine maintenance in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 29.
Footage shows them pretending to tidy up bushes outside Jorma's home as other officers staked out the area. They arrested him when he finally stepped outside, presenting the Interpol warrant and informing him that his permission to remain in Thailand had been revoked.
Police Major General Songprod Sirisukha, commander of Immigration Division 3, said the team tracked him down following a tip-off that he had moved from Chonburi in southern Thailand to a housing estate near Suvarnabhumi International Airport serving Bangkok.
He added: 'The suspect was wanted by Interpol on allegations of fraud, tax evasion and falsifying accounting records involving more than four million baht. We revoked his permission to stay in Thailand and have begun deportation proceedings.
'The Immigration Bureau prioritises cooperation with international police organisations in tracking down individuals under arrest warrants.
‘We want to make it clear that Thailand will not be a safe haven for fugitives trying to evade justice abroad.'
