DRUG-RAID CASH.
Arrest of suspect deepens mystery.
'Drug boss' said Bt50 million was buried at his home, so Bt20 million still unaccounted for, officer says.




A senior police officer who paraded alleged drug kingpin Mayakee Yakoh in front of the media said the suspect told him there was at least Bt50 million hidden in his house, raising the question of what happened to a missing Bt20 million.


Maj-General Adithep Panjamanon, deputy commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau,Thailand said Mayakee had stashed away Bt50 million. The statement complicated an already complex drug case involving allegations of authorities siphoning off money.


Army chief General Anupong Paochinda called for a probe into the allegation.


Police said the October 9 raid on Mayakee's house in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district discovered Bt30,496,800 stuffed in PVC pipes.


Mayakee was not permitted to talk to the media during a parade that came across to many as part of a desperate act of damage control after an informant accused the police of cheating him out of money he had been promised. He went to the media on condition that his identity was not revealed.


The informant, who identified himself as "Paew", said at least B70 million was dug up by the combined force of police and soldiers during the October 9 raid.


He did not say how he came across the information about Mayakee's alleged activities.


Colonel Manas Kongpan told reporters last Friday, nine days after the raid, that he had given the informant Bt4 million as reward for the information.


"The informants might have misunderstood that the pipes they got were of equal length to those the officials took to the police station," Manas told reporters.


"In fact they were smaller - each was only 30 centimetres long - and contained only Bt4 million, not Bt40 million as they suggested," he said.


During the press conference, deputy police commissioner General Wongkot Maneerin said 14 suspects had been taken into custody for further
questioning in relation to the drug bust. He said two were still at large.


Wongkot said informants were entitled to 15 per cent of the money confiscated but declined to comment on the alleged siphoning. There was no evidence to suggest this drug syndicate was linked to the insurgency in Southern Thailand, although he did not rule it out.


Wongkot also revealed that authorities confiscated 17.9 kilograms of heroin and 15,400 speed tablets from Mayakee's syndicate and that the drugs were sent from northern Thailand.


He said the money had been buried under Mayakee's house for more than two years.


Narathiwat's deputy governor Niphan Naraphitakkul said police discovered three explosive devices in Mayakee's home. They were of a type used by insurgents in the region. He expressed optimism Mayakee's arrest would lead to more arrests of Malay-Muslim insurgents.


He did not say when the bombs were discovered, but after the initial raid on October 9 - during which authorities supposedly found the Bt30 million stuffed in PVC pipes buried under the kitchen floor - there was no reference to any contraband other than cash.


Niphan said Mayakee was also involved in a cross-border money syndicate and that his hardware store in Sungai Kolok was merely a front for the illicit operation.

Timeline

October 9: A combined force of police and soldiers searches the residence of Mayakee Yakoh in Sungai Kolok,Thailand and reports finding seven PVC pipes with a total of Bt30.4 million stuffed inside.

October 17: An informant by the name of "Prasit" tells Nation News Agency that the raid actually netted more than Bt74 million, not Bt30 million as claimed.

October 19: Colonel Manas Kongpan, who led the October 9 raid, admits there were nine PVC pipes in all, and says he gave two to informants.

October 22: Police parade Mayakee Yakoh, who was arrested in Malaysia,Thailand the previous day, in front of the media. During the press conference, Maj-General Adithep Panjamanon, deputy commander of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, says Mayakee told him that the amount buried under his kitchen was Bt50 million.