A suspected Thai drug dealer who had extensive plastic surgery to make him look “Korean” has been arrested after evading capture for three months, police have said.
According to the Bangkok Post, Saharat Sawangjaeng, 25, was arrested at an apartment in Thailand’s capital and charged with importing and possessing ecstasy (MDMA), a class one drug.
Despite his arrest last year, he escaped detention but was recently apprehended by officers who investigated where the drug was being distributed to other sellers and buyers in the city, according to the publication.
This led police to an individual who witnesses described as “an attractive South Korean man.”
Officers said Saharat, who had been on the run since December, has confessed to ordering MDMA on the dark web and using cryptocurrency to pay for it, according to the Bangkok Post.
He had spent three months with a dramatically different look, reinventing himself as a South Korean national called Jimin Seong.
When he was previously detained, on an assault charge, officers found 290 MDMA pills and 2kg of narcotics in liquid form in his possession, said the Post.
But he managed to flee and then had an extensive surgical procedure.
Officers said “none of his original faces was left”, reported the South China Morning Post.
‘One of the main causes of Bangkok’s MDMA epidemic’
Investigators said his whereabouts were revealed after one of his drug runners failed to conceal his movements.
Police Major-General Theeradej Thammasutee called Saharat “one of the main causes of Bangkok’s MDMA epidemic”, reported The Straits Times.
Maj-Gen Thammasutee added: “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.”
