Thai drug lord caught despite extensive plastic surgery to become ‘handsome Korean man’
Sarahat Sawangjaeng went under the knife several times to transform his face, and changed his name to Jimin Cheong while attempting to dodge detectives. Sarahat, pictured pre op (left). PHOTOS: THAILAND POLICE HANDOUT via The Straits Times/Asia News Network
SINGAPORE — A Thai drug lord who had multiple plastic surgery procedures to disguise himself as a “handsome Korean man” was nabbed by police in Bangkok on Friday.
Sarahat Sawangjaeng, 25, went under the knife several times to transform his face, and changed his name to Jimin Cheong while attempting to dodge detectives.
Thai publication Thaiger said Mr Sarahat, who imported MDMA to the country from Europe, was arrested at a condominium in the upmarket Bang Na district of Bangkok.
MDMA is a psychoactive drug commonly known as Ecstasy or Molly.
After being on the run since December 2022, he was finally caught after an undercover police officer pretended to be interested in working as a drug mule for him.
Article continues after this advertisementThai media reported that the police were shocked when they arrived to arrest Mr Sarahat as “none of his original face was left”, and he had transformed into a “handsome Korean man”.
Article continues after this advertisementThe police knew what he originally looked like because he had been arrested three times previously. However, they did not comment on these arrests.
Mr Sarahat, who reportedly brought in “copious amounts of MDMA”, admitted to buying the drugs with Bitcoin on the Dark Web and then selling them to customers in and around Bangkok.
Police Major-General Thammasutee called him “one of the main causes of Bangkok’s MDMA epidemic”.
Maj-Gen Thammasutee added: “He is a drug lord importing MDMA from Europe at just 25 years old. We believe there are more suspects in foreign countries. We will continue our investigation.”
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