Police raid nabs fake passports
Four men and two women were arrested during an immigration-police sweep on a fake-passport ring in Bangkok's Chom Thong district, a senior officer said yesterday.
Following a tip-off, Immigration Bureau commander Police Major General Suwat Thamrongsrisakul led a raid on a three-storey commercial building on Soi Wutthakard 36 yesterday afternoon. The building's owner, Weera-sak Wannasil, 39, was arrested along with three other male suspects, Trairong Phanmee, 45, Saen Sukpimai, 36, and Suwit Chuthong, 34. Two women, Sumalee Panthong, 29, and Laddawan Pewkhao, 41, were also arrested. Police confiscated 2,000 counterfeit Belgian and Portuguese passports; 2,000 fake Belgian and Portuguese ID cards and a printing press with plates. They also seized two computer programmes, a sewing machine and a hole punch. The suspects were initially charged with forging passports. The raid was a result of a pre-vious arrest where a group of passport-forgers were appre-hended at Sukhumvit Soi 8, Suwat said. Weerasak allegedly told police the building was used only to attach documents to existing passports, which were then delivered to their employer, who reportedly sold them for Bt5,000 each. Police said this failed to explain the printing press, plates and computer programmes for forging passports.
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