CHIANG MAI – A coordinated police raid on a luxury riverside villa in Mae Rim district resulted in the arrest of twenty Chinese nationals on Thursday, all suspected of operating sophisticated scams targeting victims in their home country. The operation, however, saw at least ten other individuals evade capture by escaping through a nearby river and woods.

The detainees, comprising fourteen men and six women, were apprehended at the lavish property situated along the Ping River in tambon Don Kaew. One of the female suspects sustained a broken leg after jumping from the villa in a desperate attempt to flee the authorities. According to police, the suspects confessed that their employer paid 120,000 baht per month to rent the 90-million-baht villa and provided them with substantial monthly salaries ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 baht.

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Inside the residence, officers seized approximately 100 mobile phones and a corresponding number of Chinese SIM cards, the primary tools of their alleged criminal enterprise. The villa was also equipped with an extensive network of surveillance cameras, strategically placed to monitor the surrounding area for police activity, giving the occupants crucial moments to attempt their escape.

Investigators revealed that the group entered Thailand on various visas; some held student visas registered with local universities, while others arrived on tourist visas. Their fraudulent schemes primarily involved deceiving fellow Chinese nationals through fake offers of life insurance or by posing as postal officials requesting payment for undelivered parcels, tricking victims into transferring money to accounts controlled by the syndicate.

Chiang Mai police and local officials raided a Chinese-run scam call centre, located in a luxury rented house, and arrested 20 Chinese nationals, 14 men and 6 women, yesterday.

Police said that some attempted to escape by jumping into the Ping River or into the bushes behind the… pic.twitter.com/L3Jaqm12kc

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Pol Lt Gen Kritthapol Yisakhon, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 5, confirmed that the suspects are part of an established criminal gang that had previously been targeted in police raids in Hang Dong and Mae Rim districts back in July. The network had relocated its operations to this new villa just two months ago.

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All twenty individuals currently in custody are facing formal charges of forming a criminal association and fraud. They are being held for further interrogation at the Mae Rim police station. Authorities are now working in close coordination with the Chinese consulate in Chiang Mai to advance the international investigation.

-Thailand News (TN)