Police in Bangkok have revealed that a Thai heroin dealer performed a number of cosmetic surgeries to pass for “a handsome Korean man” and avoid detection from the law.
Using the alias Seong Jimin, Saharat Sawangjaeng was taken into custody late last week at a condominium in Bangna, Bangkok.
Authorities stated “none of his original face was left” after they finally caught up with the suspect, having spent three months searching for the 25-year-old.
Through the monitoring of ecstasy distribution to other Bangkok buyers and sellers, police were able to eventually locate his whereabouts.
Saharat Sawangjaeng was using a Korean name when apprehended, and witnesses hailed him as “a handsome Korean man” when police came to investigate.
Sawangjaeng stated his desire to relocate to South Korea in a video of his capture supplied by the police: “I want to start a new life. I am bored of Thailand”.
Charges have been brought against Sawangjaeng for importing illicit drugs. The police said last week that he had admitted to using cryptocurrency to buy MDMA, better known as ecstasy, via the dark web.
In the three years prior to his arrest, he had been taken into custody at least three times previously. He once had 290 ecstasy tablets and 2kg (4.4lb) of a liquid form of drugs on his person when he was arrested for assault.
Following those earlier arrests, Sawangjaeng underwent complicated medical procedures to reinvent himself and elude the authorities with his latest ventures.
According to reports, Thai Police Major-General Theeradej Thammasutee had referred to him as “one of the primary reasons for Bangkok’s MDMA pandemic.”
“He is a drug lord importing MDMA from Europe at just 25 years old. We believe there are more suspects in foreign countries. We will continue our investigation,” Mr Thammasutee explained in a statement.
Although Mr. Saharat said in the video footage that he mainly bought drugs from Holland, he revealed that he had no idea of the identity of the individuals he had business with.
