BANGKOK — Thai police arrested 15 Eastern European nationals after raiding a Bangkok building that had been converted into a base for an alleged cryptocurrency investment scam, authorities said Saturday.
Metropolitan Police Devision 2 officers were dispatched to the site around 8:30 p.m.Friday after residents reported loud noise and a steady flow of foreigners entering and leaving a warehouse-like structure near the end of an alley between Soi Nuan Chan 36 and 38, Bueng Kim district.
Officers encountered two Azerbaijani men outside the building who struggled to communicate in English. The pair asked police to wait for a friend who could translate. When the warehouse owner arrived shortly afterward, he helped officers explain the search request, and the occupants complied.
Inside, police found a large, windowless room sealed with a steel door fitted with a peephole. Officers moved to a connected back room, where they discovered 15 people sitting at computers. Some tried to flee but were immediately detained.
Police then contacted the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau. Investigators said the group was running a website used to defraud victims by luring them into cryptocurrency trading schemes. Scam scripts and other materials were seized at the scene.
Those arrested include nine Azerbaijani nationals, five Georgian nationals and one Ukrainian citizen. They face charges of conspiracy, involvement in a transnational criminal organization, and working in Thailand without permits.
Police confiscated 25 notebook computers, two routers, 16 mobile phones, 15 sets of headphones and charging cables, and several scam manuals. The suspects were taken to Khok Khram Police Station for further questioning, and immigration authorities will review their backgrounds, police said.
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