Criminology and Psychology

Suspected Russian arms dealer detained in Thailand said his arrest and trial had been arranged by the United States because he refused to become an American spy. Viktor Bout, 41, was arrested in March in Bangkok during a joint police operation led by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The second hearing in his case in a Thai court started on Friday. In an interview published Friday in Kommersant, a Russian business daily, Bout said Washington fabricated charges against him after he had refused to work as an informant. "I was approached by some recruiters, especially in South Africa, who said it would be good if I shared with them information about the situation in one country or another and offered me a lot of perks. But I was not interested and I refused," Kommersant quoted him as saying. "They attempted to recruit me because we worked with Libyans and ... some other countries that the Americans had an interest in. And after I refused, the UN s...

Thailand's criminal court must decide whether there is enough evidence to extradite Viktor Bout to the United States, where he could face life in prison for allegedly funnelling arms to some of the world's bloodiest conflict zones. Thai court on Monday opened extradition hearings for alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, which could send the man dubbed the "Merchant of Death" to the United States to face terrorism charges.Bout did not speak to reporters as he entered the courtroom in shackles, an orange prison-issue outfit and running shoes.The stocky former Soviet air force officer was arrested in Bangkok in March after a sting operation headed by US agents, and Monday's proceedings opened with Bout's lawyers filing an appeal against his detention."I have submitted the petition that Viktor Bout has been detained illegally," his Thai lawyer Preecha Prasertsak told reporters, but did not say on what grounds they were contesting the detention. The j...

anti-drug agency and police are gearing up to dismantle foreign-organised crime syndicates which have been controlling the trade in illicit drugs at some of Thailand's famous tourist destinations for years. Krissana Pol-anand, the secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), said ONCB officials and drug suppression police were very concerned about the drug trade run by foreign businessmen in Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya.''The drug trade run by foreign businessmen has been increasing in these areas. We're collecting evidence in order to bring these people to justice as soon as possible,'' said Pol Lt-Gen Krissana. The ONCB yesterday held a press conference to announce its new drugs suppression policy.Pol Lt-Gen Krissana had been transferred to an inactive post at Government House by the coup-appointed government of former prime minister Gen Surayud Chulanont. He was re-appointed as chief of the ONCB by the Samak administration a few mon...

Unnamed British citizen is among more than 30 people being held after Thai police broke up a drug ring that was supplying tourists with cocaine and Ecstasy. Police Colonel Ithipol Kitsuwansay said the ring bought 10 kilos of cocaine worth £500,000 from Latin America each month and shipped it to the island of Samui. Scores of foreigners are on death row in Thailand for drug-related convictions.

Thai police detained more than 30 people and broke up a drug ring that was supplying tourists with cocaine and Ecstasy on the island of Samui, an official said Saturday. Working with American drug enforcement agents, Thai police made the arrests Friday, said Police Col. Ithipol Kitsuwansay. Among those detained were an Iranian suspected of leading the ring, two Turks, several Africans and a British citizen, he said. Police also seized about 100 million baht (US$3 million) in assets owned by the Iranian, including a yacht, several gift shops and a pub on the island in the Gulf of Thailand, he said. He was identified as 38-year-old Shahriar Zarghamzade, alias Ramin Ahmani.Ithipol said the ring was buying as much as 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of cocaine with a street value of 35 million baht (US$1 million) from Latin America each month and shipping it through Bangkok to Samui. It was then sold at parties frequented by tourists, he said.Scores of foreigners are on death row in Thailand for d...

John Paul Jones was arrested in Thailand after a doctor allegedly discovered 65 plastic bags filled with $31,608 in hashish in his stomach, police said. John Paul Jones, 51, was visiting the island of Ko Samui when he was rushed to the hospital after complaining of severe stomach pain, the Bangkok Post reported. An X-ray of Jones's intestine showed a sausage-like string of objects that were surgically removed and identified as 800 grams of hashish. "Before the operation, Mr Jones looked nervous and asked whether police would be notified. We found 62 black objects obstructing his small intestine. Three packs had burst," Dr Worapob said. It is reported that it took doctors two hours to remove the drugs, which were concealed in condoms and probably smuggled into Thailand from India or Pakistan. Authorities said Jones would be held for questioning and charges.

The police said 121 people had been crammed inside an airtight seafood container late Wednesday night that measured just 20 feet long and 7 feet wide. Survivors said they had shouted and banged on the sides of the sweltering container as they began to collapse from lack of air. Fifty four migrant workers from Myanmar suffocated in the back of a sealed truck in southern Thailand as they were being smuggled into the country to work as illegal laborers, the Thai police said Thursday. Col. Kraithong Chanthongbai, the local police commander in Ranong Province, on Myanmar’s border, said that the dead included 37 women and 17 men and that they were heading for the resort island of Phuket to work as day laborers. Twenty-one of the survivors were hospitalized and the others were held for questioning, he said. All but two were later discharged from the hospital. The deaths illustrated the dangers migrant workers face as they are smuggled by the millions across borders into countries as far apart...

100 Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.) officers, equipped with arrest warrants, in co-operation with Thai police, today arrested a British gang selling steroids illegally in Soi Chaiyapreuk, Pattaya and seized assets worth over Bt 20 million At 8.00 am, 21 March, 2008, Police Major General, Amaresrit Wattanawiboon, Commander of Office of the Narcotics Control Board,(ONCB) who had been co-ordinating with Mr.Andre Kellum, an officer of the D.E.A, acknowledged that there was a gang of foreigners who were running a network selling steroid in Pattaya. The police and D.E.A. officers, acting on arrest warrant no. 98/255, searched a two-storey house in Pattaya New City Village, Soi Chaiyapreuk , Jomtien Beach Road. The police later arrested Mr.Edwin Richard Crawley (44) a British national who lives in the house, which he had used as the centre of operations for his business. According to the police report, Mr. Edwin Richard Crawley originally opened a company called" Nutri Med. Co. ...