A gang run by Nor Kham, a Shan drug trafficker, is thought to be behind the grisly murders of 12 Chinese boat crew members whose bodies were found in the Mekong River, says the army.
Maj Gen Prakarn Chonlayuth, commander of the Pa Muang Task Force, said the gang hijacks ships plying the river and demands protection money from them.
If they refuse to pay, they kill the crew and take over the ships to deliver drugs from Burma to Thailand.
The 12 men are thought to have crewed two Chinese- flagged cargo ships— Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8 Hao— which were hijacked and ransacked by traffickers in the river on Wednesday.
Shortly after, the Pa Muang Task Force stopped the ships and clashed with the traffickers, who were still on board, in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district.
The bodies of three Chinese men, their hands tied and handcuffed behind their backs, were found floating in the river in Chiang Saen district on Friday and another nine bodies, also thought to be Chinese, were found on Saturday in the same district.
Most of the nine bodies had also been handcuffed, tied and blindfolded.
One drugs trafficker on the Yu Xing 8 Hao was killed during the firefight with the task force. The others managed to flee overboard.
The soldiers seized 520,000 methamphetamine pills from the Hua Ping and 400,000 methamphetamine pills from the Yu Xing 8 Hao.
Maj Gen Prakarn said the vessels had been hijacked in the river, about 20km north of Chiang Saen.
Nor Kham, 40, wanted on Thai and Burmese arrest warrants for drugs trafficking, had expanded his illegal activities to collect protection money from Chinese-flagged cargo ships a few years ago, he said.
Authorities obtained intelligence that the Nor Kham drugs gang killed all crew members of any vessel which refused to pay the gang protection money. He believes that's what happened in this case.
About 400 armed men are thought to belong to the Nor Kham drugs gang, said Permpong Chavalit, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board.
Pol Col Popkorn Khuncharoensuk, Chiang Saen police chief, said immigration police informed him there were 13 Chinese crew on the cargo ships. One member of the crew remains missing.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crimes/260521/shan-drug-kingpin-blamed-for-12-deaths-in-mekong
Maj Gen Prakarn Chonlayuth, commander of the Pa Muang Task Force, said the gang hijacks ships plying the river and demands protection money from them.
If they refuse to pay, they kill the crew and take over the ships to deliver drugs from Burma to Thailand.
The 12 men are thought to have crewed two Chinese- flagged cargo ships— Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8 Hao— which were hijacked and ransacked by traffickers in the river on Wednesday.
Shortly after, the Pa Muang Task Force stopped the ships and clashed with the traffickers, who were still on board, in Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district.
The bodies of three Chinese men, their hands tied and handcuffed behind their backs, were found floating in the river in Chiang Saen district on Friday and another nine bodies, also thought to be Chinese, were found on Saturday in the same district.
Most of the nine bodies had also been handcuffed, tied and blindfolded.
One drugs trafficker on the Yu Xing 8 Hao was killed during the firefight with the task force. The others managed to flee overboard.
The soldiers seized 520,000 methamphetamine pills from the Hua Ping and 400,000 methamphetamine pills from the Yu Xing 8 Hao.
Maj Gen Prakarn said the vessels had been hijacked in the river, about 20km north of Chiang Saen.
Nor Kham, 40, wanted on Thai and Burmese arrest warrants for drugs trafficking, had expanded his illegal activities to collect protection money from Chinese-flagged cargo ships a few years ago, he said.
Authorities obtained intelligence that the Nor Kham drugs gang killed all crew members of any vessel which refused to pay the gang protection money. He believes that's what happened in this case.
About 400 armed men are thought to belong to the Nor Kham drugs gang, said Permpong Chavalit, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board.
Pol Col Popkorn Khuncharoensuk, Chiang Saen police chief, said immigration police informed him there were 13 Chinese crew on the cargo ships. One member of the crew remains missing.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crimes/260521/shan-drug-kingpin-blamed-for-12-deaths-in-mekong
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