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Published on October 18, 2007

Police and soldiers were scrambling yesterday to escape damning allegations by a man who accused the authorities of pocketing more than Bt40 million after a high-profile raid in Sungai Kolok on October 9.

The man, known only as "Prasit", came forward yesterday when he met reporters from The Nation News Agency (NNA). He claimed the amount uncovered on October 9 was actually more than Bt74 million - but the figure made public was only Bt30,496,800.

Prasit said he helped the authorities dig up the seven PVC pipes containing the money under the home of Mayakee Makoh. The tip-off came from an informant he would not name.

He said the money was related to drug trafficking in the border region.

Besides the Bt30 million, police also told the media that 17.9 kg of heroin and 15,400 amphetamine tablets had been found in the home.

But Narathiwat police's deputy superintendent Pol Lt Colonel Thongsuk Jaralphong maintained that the drug money was also linked to the ongoing insurgency in the three southernmost provinces.

Prasit told NNA staff he had watched as the money was removed from the pipes, wrapped in several plastic packs. He claimed the total amount reached around Bt74 million.

But Thongsak maintained the amount given to the media was correct. The police denied any wrongdoing, he said.

Prasit said he was entitled to a Bt20-million bounty promised verbally by senior security officials, who were among the 100-strong force at the scene following his tip-off.

"The informant also wants the money he is entitled to, because we both risked our lives for revealing the whereabouts of the money."

Prasit said the informant told him there was around Bt300 million buried in the compound of Mayakee's home, and that the informant was willing to say where "another Bt1.5 billion" was hidden around the strife-torn region - if they could guarantee his safety.

He said security officials initially showed an apparent unwillingness when he told them about the tip-off and asked them to provide security for him before leading them to the home.

"During the dig, they provided loose and lax security for us, but they suddenly showed interest when we found the pipes under the ground," he said.

Earlier, Internal Security Operations Command spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsaeng said the Bt30.49 million found at Mayakee's home was generated through his drug trade, and that he was a big-time drug dealer. Mayakee's father - Sapae-ing - was also found to have connections with the insurgency movement, the officer said.

Adding another layer to what is already a complicated case, Thongsuk said police were seeking a further Bt34 million hidden "in an unknown location" by insurgents in the South.

The Bt34 million was somehow linked to the Bt30 million.

Thongsak said the police believed money from this particular cell might have been already been invested in a construction material business in Malaysia's Kelantan state owned by Mayakee Makoh, the owner of the house from which the multi-million-baht stash was dug up on October 9.

Mayakee lives in Tambon Munoh of Narathiwat's Sungai-Kolok district. He and his father, Sa-paeing, are believed to be active insurgents.

Prasit, who said he was a small-time trader, showed the mud-stained clothes he said he wore when digging up the pipes.

The Nation