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Briton and Two Americans, Detained in Bangkok Without Bail Over Passport Forgery and Frozen Dead Body

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Peter Andrew Colter, 56, of Britain, James Douglas Eger, 66,Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33 of US

Briton Peter Andrew Colter, 56, and Americans James Douglas Eger, 66, Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33 to be detained for 12 days, while police investigate.

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BANGKOK – A Thai Court on Saturday approved a Police request to detain three foreigners, Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33, James Douglas Eger, 66, both American nationals, and Peter Andrew Colter, 56, of Britain for 12 days while they investigate a suspected passport forgery ring.

The police believe that the three men belong to a suspected passport forgery ring and face multiple charges after police found drugs, guns and a dismembered body stashed in the freezer of a shophouse in Bangkok.

Police escorted Briton Peter Andrew Colter believed to be the gang leader

Police escorted Briton Peter Andrew Colter believed to be the gang leader

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Police said they needed more time to question witnesses and check criminal records and forensic results. The court denied bail at the request of police, who said the men were a flight risk. The suspects were then taken to Bangkok Remand Prison.

Police are still trying to identify the body of a foreign man found wrapped in plastic in a freezer during the raid in Sukhumvit Soi 56 in Phra Khanong district on Friday. The body had been cut into six pieces.

American Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33,being led into court by police in Bangkok

American Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33,being led into court by police in Bangkok

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The search on Friday turned up six pistols, methamphetamine, marijuana, passports, a printer and chemicals. Police also also found passports featuring the suspects’ pictures with different names.

Pol Sgt Maj Kanchanapong of the Tourist Police was also wounded in the operation after a suspect reached inside a safe for a 9mm gun and fired three shots.

Sgt Maj Kanchanapong was not seriously hurt and is recovering in Police General Hospital.

A US Embassy spokesman said he was following the case but could not comment due to privacy concerns.

James Douglas Eger, 66, being escorted by Bangkok Police detectives

James Douglas Eger, 66, being escorted by Bangkok Police detectives

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“They are charged on five counts including attempting to kill an official on duty, resisting arrest, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, forging official documents and concealing a corpse,” said Pol Col Chanin Wachirapaneekul, superintendent of the Phra Khanong station in Bangkok.

A Burmese housekeeper and her husband, who were initially detained with the group, have not been charged with any crimes and are being treated as witnesses, said Pol Maj Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

Pol Col Chanin said that all five people rounded up on Friday denied any knowledge of the dismembered body in the freezer.

Pol Maj Gen Surachet Hakphan, commander of the Tourist Police Division, said the suspects were believed to be members of a major fake passport gang, with Briton Peter Andrew Colter believed to be the gang leader. He said they had been in Thailand for about eight years and travelled in and out of the country frequently, using both real and fake passports.

Police are now tracing the suspects’ mobile phone use. They have also searched two more houses linked to the suspects in the On Nut area but found nothing illegal, he added.

Thailand has long served as a base for foreign criminals and fugitives lured by porous borders, lax visa requirements and a reputation for corrupt law enforcement.

In February police arrested an Iranian known as “The Doctor” who crafted pristine passports from his home in Chachoengsao and sold the documents to thousands around the world — including gangsters, rebels, refugees and migrant workers.

Source: AFP,  Bangkok Post, The Nation

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