PHUKET — Police have arrested a 25-year-old Russian national suspected of involvement in a cybercrime gang and seized assets worth several hundred thousand baht, authorities said.
Acting under the direction of provincial police commander Maj. Gen. Sinlert Sukhum, officers from Kathu police station and the Phuket Provincial Police Investigation Division launched a crackdown on technology-related crime following reports of suspicious financial transactions.
Police said that at about 17:00 on 12 January 2026, Kathu police were alerted to an abnormal transaction involving a cash withdrawal of 110,900 baht from a Siam Commercial Bank ATM in Kathu district.
On 15 January 2026 at about 14:00, officers executed a search warrant issued by the Phuket Provincial Court and searched a targeted location in Kathu. They identified the suspect as Mr. Kairat Zhumagaliev, a Russian national, along with a Thai woman, Phatsaporn Permphon.
During the search, police seized 34 mobile phones, 27 ATM cards, one MacBook computer, 60,000 baht in cash, one motorcycle, one gold bracelet and a gold bar weighing 1 salung, or 3.811 gram.
On 17 January 2026, Kathu police, working with provincial investigators and Phuket immigration officers, arrested Zhumagaliev under an arrest warrant issued by the Lampang Provincial Court the same day.
He is charged with conspiracy to defraud the public and dishonestly or fraudulently inputting false computer data in a manner likely to cause damage to the public.
The suspect was arrested at a condominium in Kathu district and transferred, along with the seized evidence, to Kathu police investigators for further legal proceedings.
