4A major raid on Lao drug lord Xaysana Keopimpha's drug syndicate which implicated Akarakit "Benz Racing" Worarojcharoendet, the husband of an actress, drew intense public interest.
On Jan 19, the drug kingpin was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi airport on his arrival from Phuket by the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) which had been tracking his activities.
Shortly after the arrest of Mr Xaysana, the NSB raided 40 locations across the country in an operation called "Chaiya Sayob Pairee 60/2".
During the raid, several suspects embroiled in the Lao narcotic ring were detained, including Mr Akarakit, the husband of actress Napapa "Patt" Tantrakul, and Natthaphol "Boy" Nakkham, a key suspect believed to be closely linked to Mr Xaysana and an acquaintance of Mr Akarakit.
Among the targeted locations were "Area 51", Mr Akarakit's shop selling auto accessories for big bikes, and his room in Soi Inthamara 51, both in Bangkok's Din Daeng district.
Police also confiscated a grey Lamborghini Gallardo, several big bikes and two 9mm pistols with 15 bullets from the locations.
An investigation indicated Mr Akarakit did not have vehicle registration papers for a BMW big bike while an examination on another big bike found it was registered in Mr Natthaphol's name.
Mr Natthaphol later told police that Mr Xaysana's assets, including the Lamborghini, were spread over several locations.
He said the luxury car was used by the drug lord during his visits in Thailand.
The probe also showed Mr Akarakit had allegedly opened bank accounts to receive transactions related to the drug ring. Around 11 million baht had been transferred to various bank accounts via 53 transactions.
Mr Akarakit also faces charges of assisting in drug trafficking and conspiring to launder money generated from the drug network allegedly run by Mr Xaysana. Mr Akarakit is being detained at Bangkok Remand Prison pending trial.
As for his actress wife, NSB investigators charged her with colluding in money laundering and involvement in drug smuggling after they found 1.9 million baht had been wired to her bank account in instalments by her husband.
Ms Napapa denied the allegations. Prosecutors later dropped both charges against her in August after investigators could find no solid evidence against her.
