The 41-year-old, according to the authorities, had luxury cars like the Lamborghini, Ferrari and Bentley at his disposal and portrayed himself as a wealthy businessman from Laos.
Whenever the alleged Laotian drug kingpin, also known as Mr X by the authorities, was in Thailand, he would organise parties and invite entertainment figures, celebrities and prominent members of the business fraternity, the country’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) chief, Lt Gen Sommai Kongvisaisuk told reporters recently.
Now that the Laotian was captured in a sting operation on Jan 19, after more than five years of painstaking investigation, he said the man’s extravagant lifestyle and extraordinary wealth allegedly gained from the drug trade had surfaced.
In his Facebook account, several pictures showed him and a friend taking selfies with a collection of luxury super cars, which included Ferrari, Bentley and Lamborghini, at his sprawling home in Laos.
One of the pictures uploaded in his Facebook account showed the drug lord wearing a sleeveless T-shirt which exposed tattoos on both of his arms, sitting alone in one of his open-top super fast cars.
Besides pictures from his Facebook, which was last updated on Dec 19, several visuals of him driving in his super car with friends in Thailand have also been making the rounds in the country’s news bulletins and social media circles.
Since the man’s arrest, the Thai authorities have seized more than 200 million baht (about RM26 million) in assets, including luxury cars and motorcycles suspected to be linked to the Laotian drug network.
Yesterday, enforcement officers also seized a Lamborghini from the husband of one of Thailand’s top actresses on suspicion it also belonged to the Laotian drug lord.
Thai authorities said they are expected to make more seizures of assets allegedly belonging to the “Asean Drug Lord” and arrest more people as their investigations intensify into the drug network.