Drug fugitive on Thailand's 'most wanted' list

Drugs

Drug fugitive on Thailand's 'most wanted' list

Bang Ron, on the run from drug charges in Thailand, is No.4 in Thailand's ten most wanted, according to the Crime Suppression Division's website www.csd.go.th launched yesterday.

Bang Ron, whose real name is Surachai Ngernthongfu, is believed to be either in Burma with his Wa beneficiaries or in Laos.

The 45 year old native of Bangkok had escaped after 758,000 pills of yaba (methamphetamine) were uncovered at his home by a police raiding party in 1998.

According to a former drug operative, Bang Ron was one of the Thai businessmen that had introduced the Wa to the yaba technology in the early 1990's when Thailand began to act tough on its trade.

Little is known about his whereabouts. He was reported to have moved into Burma following his flight from Bangkok. But some anti-narcotic agents believe he left for Laos, soon after one of the Wa bases along the Mekong was abandoned last year through pressure from China.