Thai ‘drug kingpin’ gets plastic surgery to look like a ‘handsome Korean’ in failed attempt to hide from police
- Saharat Sawangjaeng, 25, has been charged with illegal importation of narcotics
- He changed his name and face after wanting to start a ‘new life’ in South Korea
A Thai “drug lord” drastically altered his face through plastic surgery in a failed attempt to evade authorities, police say.
Saharat Sawangjaeng changed his name and face to appear as a ‘handsome Korean man’ after undergoing numerous surgical procedures.
Although Saharat wanted ‘a new life’ in South Korea, the police managed to track him down and charged him with illegal importation of narcotics.
The cops said the change in his appearance was such that “nothing of his original face was left.”
The 25-year-old admitted last week to buying drugs with Bitcoin on the dark web before distributing them to customers in the Thai capital.
Before surgery: Saharat Sawangjaeng (pictured), 25, has been charged with illegal importation of narcotics
The police managed to track down Saharat Sawangjaeng and have reportedly charged him ever since.
Thai Police Major General Theeradej Thammasutee said the times of the strait that he was “importing MDMA from Europe at just 25 years old”, adding that it was “one of the main causes of the MDMA epidemic in Bangkok”.
MDMA is a recreational drug taken like ecstasy pills that can act as a stimulant and psychedelic.
Police have reportedly been trying to track down Saharat since December last year and succeeded by tracing the distribution of ecstasy from Bangkok.
Authorities had also previously arrested Saharat three times before his surgical procedures and knew what he was like once.
On one occasion, Saharat was allegedly caught with 290 ecstasy pills and 2kg of liquid narcotics while previously in custody on an assault charge.
He underwent surgery after managing to escape arrest with witnesses who later described him as a “handsome Korean” to police.
Last week, Saharat, then going by the name Seong Jimin, was seized by authorities from a condominium in Bangkok.
Following his arrest, investigations into other suspects are said to be underway outside of Thailand.
However, in a video of his arrest, Saharat claimed that he could not name the people he dealt with when importing drugs from the Netherlands.
Explaining her dramatic transformation, she told police: ‘I want to start a new life. I’m bored of Thailand.