“He will not be extradited to Malaysia because there is no arrest warrant against him there,” Lt-Gen Phanurat Lukboon, secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), said in a Bernama report.
“However, the Malaysian police are interrogating him in Bangkok to gather information that could lead to the seizure of his assets in Malaysia worth 4 billion baht (about RM530 million).”
The man from Parit Buntar, Perak, was arrested on Dec 28, in Vientiane, Laos, and deported to Thailand today.
Phanurat said the man will face prosecution in Thailand for drug trafficking.
Earlier, the heavily guarded suspect was flown from Laos to Thailand and taken to the ONCB headquarters in Bangkok.
Phanurat said with the arrest, export of crystal methamphetamine to Australia, Taiwan and Malaysia is expected to drop by more than 40%.
“He is a suspect in 11 cases in Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia going back to 2018. He is the mastermind of a drugs operation in the Golden Triangle,” he said.
He said ONCB and partner agencies had seized the suspect’s extensive assets in Thailand, including a plot of land with a building in Bangkok, two condominiums in Trat, three yachts in Chiang Rai, and two cars, three motorcycles, firearms, cash, savings in 10 banks, and other valuables in Chon Buri, with a total worth exceeding 85 million baht (about RM11.27 million).
Phanurat thanked the Malaysian narcotics CID team, the Australian Federal Police and the US drug enforcement administration for their support in intelligence sharing, training and investigative assistance in this case.
The suspect is also believed to be associated with a drugs network in Malaysia, trafficking from the Golden Triangle since 2006, operating across Thailand, Malaysia, China, Singapore and Laos, and working with various other drug networks.
Police believe he also used Thailand to launder money and as a transit point for smuggling drugs.
The investigators zeroed in on the suspect following a major drug bust in June last year, when 998kg of crystal methamphetamine was seized and seven people in Ratchaburi province were arrested.