State police chief Yusoff Mamat said the former player, who is believed to have dual citizenship, is the main suspect in the case.

“Besides roadblocks, I have also ordered all border control agencies to tighten their monitoring,” the New Straits Times reported him as saying.

Yusoff said the 33-year-old victim had a history of four drug offences since 2020. “He had entered Thailand using a border pass yesterday morning,” he said.

Fuad Fahmie Ghazali, 33, from Kampung Kepas Apam in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, was shot eight times at about 6.40pm yesterday. He died hours later while receiving treatment at Sungai Golok Hospital.

A Narathiwat police spokesman said information obtained from witnesses at the scene indicated that the attack may have been related to a debt dispute.

When asked about the motives behind the shooting, Yusoff said Malaysian police would leave it to the Thai authorities to investigate the matter.