THAILAND IN HOT PURSUIT OF DRUG MONEY

One Trafficker Has $20.6m In Various Accounts, Including $5m With A S'pore
Bank, Says Anti-Money Laundering Office

BANGKOK - Thailand is tracking down drug money in bank accounts across the
region, including Singapore, as part of the government's war on drugs.

The Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) is given new powers to help trace
and seize money used by terrorists to finance operations.

Under Thailand's money laundering laws, the AMLO is empowered to freeze
drug-trade related money both at home and abroad.

According to reports, it is investigating several drug rings which may have
money stashed in accounts in financial centres such as Hongkong, Singapore
and Luxembourg.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has ordered the AMLO to go after the
assets of drug dealers as a means of getting at the kingpins of the drug
trade who, unlike peddlers, do not operate on the streets and are therefore
harder to catch.

The powers of the AMLO will be beefed up, said Deputy Prime Minister
Vishanu Kruangam.

New legislation to be introduced in Parliament shortly would widen the
scope of money laundering laws to cover money linked to terrorism,
gambling, exploitation of national resources, human trafficking, arms
smuggling and intellectual property rights.

AMLO secretary-general Peeraphan Prempooti told journalists: 'The AMLO is
prepared to seize drug money regardless of where it is being stashed.'

The AMLO is also pursuing older cases including one involving a drug
trafficker, Prasert Laonapharung, arrested in 1995 but only recently
discovered to be holding 500 million baht (S$20.6 million) in various bank
accounts, including US$2.9 million (S$5.1 million) with a bank in Singapore.

On Monday, Prime Minister Thaksin said the authorities would increase the
pressure in the final phase of his war on drugs to 'unprecedented levels'
in following the trail of drug money and seizing ill-gotten gains.

The effort would be expanded to include seizing 'war weapons' and assets
financing the drug trade.

In an editorial on Tuesday, the Bangkok Post said: 'The latest moves to try
to choke the money supply to terrorists deserve strong support from the
business community and many members of the public who must help in order to
make it a success.'

Meanwhile, Thai police said more than 2,000 people had been killed in the
crackdown on drugs as the country entered the third month of its war on drugs.

While police are unable to say precisely how many of the killings were
drug-related, the national murder tally has been widely used as an
indicator of the number of deaths resulting from the crackdown.

The authorities claim that many of the deaths were murders carried out by
drug gang members to protect themselves from prosecution.