Two caught selling cars wtih fake registration linked to bombers
A 50-strong police contingent armed with arrest warrants issued on July 16 raided 14 locations on Tuesday in their search for Passawat Yindee, 48, and Thirawit Kingkaew, 30, Pol Maj Gen Wittaya Sriprasertphap, commander of the Crime Suppression Division, said on Wednesday.
The suspects were apprehended separately, one in Muang district of Nakhon Pathom and the other in Nong Chok district of Bangkok, he said.
Police also seized 41 items of evidence - mobile phones, cars, fake licence plates and documents.
The investigation began after highway police detected fake plates on a BMW car, using a licence plate recognition system. They subsequently learned the driver had bought the plates from the Facebook page เฮียอ๊อด.
Investigators found the page had been selling used cars and fake licence plates, car registration books and other documentation to buyers.
Most of the cars had been pawned and some had been used illegally, police said.
Mr Thirawit allegedly admitted to producing and selling fake documents, admitting the business earned him almost a million baht a year.
Mr Passawat allegedly admitted he had been selling cars and fake documents through the pages เฮียอ๊อด and เสี่ยบัง ยอดแหลม, earning 2,000 to 5,000 baht per vehicle and 200 to 300 baht per document.
Further investigation revealed the illegal operation was linked to national crime, Pol Maj Gen Wittaya said. One case involved the police interception of a pickup used by bombers in the South of Thailand that was purchased through the suspects' network.
Police said the network had been generating over 200 million baht a year. Search warrants had been issued for others involved, police said. The investigaton is ongoing.
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