Rogue cops linked to Korean kidnapping case

19 มกราคม 2558

When police busted a South Korean gambling gang last week, other police were apparently working with international gangs in the kidnapping of three South Koreans.

South Korean national Mr Kim Seung-cheul who allegedly took fellow Koreans to a location he claimed to be a police office, threatened them and demanded they give him 2 million baht, or he would hand them over to the police on charges related to their illegal online football gambling.

CRIME

Rogue cops linked to Korean kidnapping case

Transnational gangs heavily involved in extortion
19/01/2015

The recent arrest of a South Korean suspect in a kidnapping case has underlined the existence of transnational gangs operating on Thai soil with the help of rogue law enforcement officers.

Investigators believe a group of police was involved in the recent abduction of three South Korean nationals. They know of gangs operated by foreigners which have extorted money from fellow nationals in exchange for protection.

Other state officials also are thought to be connected to the foreign mafia-style gangs, said acting Crime Suppression Division (CSD) chief Pol Col Akkaradech Pimolsri. With state officials backing them, the gangs are growing and so is the extortion problem.

On Jan 8 an investigation team attached to the Metropolitan Police Bureau's Division 5 led by Pol Lt Col Khanaphat Phanumanto raided an apartment located on Soi Pridi Banomyong and detained three South Korean men – Myeong lldo, 33, Kim Kwanghun, 30, and Lee Youngjun, 29.

The police team handed the men over to Kim Seung-cheul, another South Korean national who claimed to be a member of a mafia gang. Early on Jan 9, Mr Kim Seung-cheul took the men to a location he claimed to be a police office. He threatened them and demanded they give him 2 million baht, or he would hand them over to the police on charges related to their illegal online football gambling.

Frightened by the threat, the men contacted their friends and asked them to transfer about 200,000 baht to the gang.

After getting the money, Mr Kim Seung-cheul took the Koreans to another apartment on On Nut Road where one of the victims lives. He ransacked the apartment and found another 500,000 baht. But that was not enough to satisfy him.

He told the three to find him more money.

Hours later, Mr Kim Seung-cheul took one of the kidnap victims to the On Nut branch of Big C supermarket to meet a Thai man whom Mr Kim Seung-cheul claimed was a police officer. He handed the Thai man in question one million baht in cash.

After the meeting Mr Kim Seung-cheul and the victim returned to the On Nut apartment where the two other kidnap victims were waiting.

Another South Korean suspect, Zhou Chung-chul, showed up and told the victims to find the rest of the two million baht demanded.

Mr Chung-chul served as an interpreter for the Division 5 police team in charge of detaining the three victims.

He told the three Koreans that if they could not find him the amount he asked for, he would hand them all to the investigators who were then waiting downstairs.

Mr Chung-chul later took the victims on to Seacon Square department store in eastern Bangkok where the victims were supposed to withdraw more money for him from an ATM.

However, as he realised the CSD had begun to close in, Mr Chung-chul decided to leave the South Korean victims at the store and fled. He was arrested last Tuesday.

At least 12 officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau, the Tourist Police Division (TPD) and the CSD, as well as at least one civilian, are believed to have been involved in the abduction.

The civilian suspect is believed to work as an informant for the tourist police and is possibly the same person who received the one million baht cash from Mr Chung-chul at the Big C store on Jan 9.

The civilian was caught on security camera at the Big C that day and CSD investigators have reviewed the footage. They also have more evidence to prove how and to whom the money has been distributed.

Pol Col Akkaradech said the CSD is conducting a survey on transnational mafia-style gangs in key tourist districts such as Bangkok, Chon Buri, Chaing Mai, Phuket, and Koh Samui district in Surat Thani.

"These gangs would not have gained much influence over the local police if the police themselves did not allow it," he said.

Contact Crime Track: [email protected]

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