Jakarta –
A Thai drug lord underwent multiple plastic surgeries to look like a “handsome Korean man” and evaded the law, local authorities said.
Saharat Sawangjaeng, alias Seong Jimin, was arrested last week at a condominium in Bangkok.
Thai police, who have been hunting for the 25-year-old for three months, said “not a trace of his true face remains”.
The police managed to track down Sawangjaeng by tracing the distribution of ecstasy to other sellers and buyers in Bangkok.
Witnesses described Sawangjaeng as a “handsome Korean man” to the police. Sawangjaeng also changed his name to a Korean name.
In the arrest video released by police, Sawangjaeng said he wanted to move to South Korea: “I want to start a new life. I’m tired of Thailand”.
Sawangjaeng was charged with illegally importing narcotics. He admitted to ordering MDMA – also known as ecstasy – through the dark web using cryptocurrency, police said last week.
Previously, Sawangjaeng had been arrested at least three times.
In one incident, he was arrested on assault charges. At that time, the police found 290 ecstasy pills and two kilograms of narcotics in liquid form.
However, Sawangjaeng managed to escape detention and undergo plastic surgery to avoid the police.
Thai Police Major General, Theeradej Thammasutee, referred to Sawangjaeng as “one of the main causes of Bangkok’s MDMA epidemic”, according to reports The Straits Times.
“He is a drug lord who imported MDMA from Europe at the age of 25. We believe there are more suspects abroad. We will continue our investigation,” said Thammasutee.
Meanwhile, in a video, Sawangjaeng said that the drugs he imported were mostly from the Netherlands.
He added that he did not know the identities of the people he had dealings with in the drug trade.
Also see video ‘Viral Drug Dealer Claims to Be Backed by Police, North Toraja Police Speak’:
(it/it)