A Thai drug lord who had multiple plastic surgeries to disguise himself as a “handsome Korean man” was nabbed by police in Bangkok on Friday (Feb 24).
Thai man Sarahat Sawangjaeng, 25, went under the knife several times to transform his face, and changed his name to Jimin Cheong while attempting to dodge detectives.
Thai publication Thaiger said that Mr Sawangjaeng, who imported MDMA to the country from Europe, was arrested at a condominium in the upmarket Bang Na district of Bangkok.
MDMA is a psychoactive drug commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly.
After being on the run since December last year, he was finally caught after an undercover police officer pretending to be interested in working as a drug mule for him.
Thai media reported that police were shocked when they arrived to arrest Mr Sawangjaeng since “none of his original face was left”, and he had transformed into a “handsome Korean man”.
Police knew what he had looked like because he had been arrested three times before over the years. However, they did not comment on these arrests.
Mr Sawangjaeng, who reportedly brought in “copious amounts of MDMA”, admitted to buying the drugs with Bitcoin on the dark Web and then selling it to customers in and around Bangkok.
Police major general Thammasutee called him “one of the main causes of Bangkok’s MDMA epidemic”.
Mr 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.”
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.