Six Nigerians linked to a cocaine trafficking network have been arrested after police raided a condominium in Nonthaburi, where they also discovered a romance scam using AI-generated faces portraying wealthy foreigners to approach mostly older Thai female victims.
The arrests were made when officers searched three rooms at a luxury condominium near the Phra Nang Klao Bridge in Muang district, Pol Maj Gen Theeradej Thammasuthee, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said on Saturday.
The operation briefly turned chaotic when officers arrived and the suspects refused to open the doors, apparently alerted to the raid and trying to destroy the evidence.
Officers had to force entry, after which they uncovered 18 mobile phones, three laptop computers and three bank passbooks.
Some of the phones seized by officers still displayed active chats relating to drug transactions, Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said.
In April, police arrested a suspect, identified only as Patrick, reportedly a major figure in the drug network, along with four accomplices, and seized assets worth 2.5 million baht.
Financial links subsequently led investigators to the Nigerian suspects, who reportedly used student visas as cover while maintaining unusually large cash flows and living in luxury riverside condos without attending school or working.
Moreover, evidence found on their phones revealed a scam operation, in which they used AI generate other foreigners’ portraits to talk and arranged video calls to deceive victims.
Targeting older women, they created fake profiles posing as wealthy pilots, US soldiers or doctors, investigators said.
The suspects told the victims that gifts had been sent to them from abroad but were being held by customs before asking for money to pay the fees.
Police also found scripts used to persuade victims, including sexually suggestive talk designed to exploit loneliness and emotional vulnerability among older women, Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said.
The six suspects, aged between 23 and 35, initially confessed to charges of involving a criminal association and overstaying their visas.
Authorities are coordinating with victims and investigators to pursue additional fraud and romance scam charges, Pol Maj Gen Theeradej said.
