BANGKOK – Officers from the Metropolitan Police Bureau and Chana Songkhram Police Station arrested an Algerian man suspected of stealing a gold-framed Buddha amulet worth 20,000 baht from a gold shop on February 20, 2024 while he was packing his clothes to fly back to his home country.
Pol. Lt. Col. Piyarat Wessakosol, deputy director of the Sub-Department of Child and Women’s Protection, has informed Pol. Lt. Col. Chakkree Nareephol, inspector of Special Operations Division 1, to arrest Algerian national Garou Doubir and confiscate the stolen Buddha amulet. The arrest was made in a hotel room in Phra Sumen Road, Talad Yod Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok.
Pol. Col. Santi Kornkasem, director of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Children and Women Protection Division, said the owner of the gold store, Yong Seng Heng, located on Phra Sumen Road, Talad Yod Subdistrict, Phra Nakhon District, Bangkok, reported that a foreign man with an unknown name and nationality had come to the store to inquire about buying gold jewelry but had not purchased anything. After he left the store, it was discovered that an item was missing from the store.
When the owner checked the CCTV footage, he saw a foreign man pick up a gold-framed Buddha amulet worth 20,000 baht and walk away with it. The owner then filed a report at the Chana Songkhram police station.
Later, the police tracked down the suspect and seized the stolen evidence while Mr. Garou was packing his clothes to fly back to his home country.
The Algerian suspect confessed that the evidence seized by the police was the item he had stolen from the Yong Seng Heng store. The police therefore charged him with “theft or receiving stolen property” and took him to Chana Songkhram police station for further prosecution.
During a background check, the police discovered that the suspect had frequently traveled back and forth between Thailand and Algeria. They therefore suspect that the suspect may have committed similar thefts several times before. Police are therefore asking any gold and jewelry store owners who suspect that they have been robbed in a similar manner to contact the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Children and Women Protection Division or Chana Songkhram Police Station and provide information.
