A female immigration officer disguised herself as a maid to help arrest a Frenchman wanted under an Interpol Red Notice at a hotel in Phuket on July 3.
The operation began after the Belgian Embassy in Thailand requested assistance from Thailand’s Immigration Bureau in locating 29 year old French national Chir, who is wanted by authorities in Luxembourg.
According to immigration officials, the Frenchman is wanted for offences linked to a criminal organisation, including money laundering, kidnapping, unlawful detention, hostage taking, armed robbery, extortion and blackmail.
Authorities said Chir travelled to Thailand after leaving Luxembourg, prompting the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice. Investigators tracked him to a hotel in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district before determining that he had moved to a hotel in Patong, Phuket.
To confirm the suspect’s identity without raising suspicion, a female officer from Phuket Immigration posed as a hotel maid and carried out cleaning duties outside the room where the man was staying.
After officers had identified the suspect, an undercover officer and a support team arrested the accused when he left his room on July 3.
Immigration officials said the man’s visa was revoked following his arrest. He is being held by the Immigration Bureau while awaiting deportation and further legal proceedings in Luxembourg.
Several operations involving foreign fugitives in Thailand were reported recently. On Tuesday, July 7, immigration officers arrested a South Korean national in Bangkok who was also wanted under an Interpol Red Notice in connection with a drug trafficking network.
In another case on June 30, police arrested a Finnish man wanted by Interpol over fraud, tax evasion and false accounting offences that reportedly caused losses exceeding 4 million baht.
Earlier in June, a South Korean fraud suspect was arrested in Bangkok after allegedly overstaying his visa by more than nine months. Investigators accused him of defrauding a partner and colleagues, causing reported losses of more than 962 million won, or about 20 million baht.
In April, Thai authorities arrested two Kyrgyz nationals at a hotel in Phuket after Interpol identified them as suspects in alleged offences including kidnapping, unlawful detention, fatal assault and murder in Kyrgyzstan.
The story Phuket police poses as hotel maid to arrest French fugitive as seen on Thaiger News.
