BANGKOK
A notorious Russian crime boss has been arrested in Thailand at the request of Interpol’s Russian bureau, as the junta extends its tentacles to clean up mafia networks on Thai soil, from illegal taxis to underground casinos.
Alexander Matusov, 52 -- suspected of leading the "Chelkovo" mafia gang responsible for dozens of murders and kidnappings in Russia -- was arrested late Wednesday by Thai police in the eastern seaside city of Sattahip.
Alexei Falunin, the vice-consul at the Russian Embassy in Thailand, told reporters that the arrest is "one of the biggest arrests in recent years."
"Matusov is accused of organizing one of the most dangerous criminal gangs in Russia, operating from the mid-1990s to 2009," said Falunin, adding that during that time, the gang was responsible for about sixty murders.
Matusov was arrested in a joint operation between Thai and Russian law enforcement agencies. Russian authorities have delivered an arrest warrant against him for the murder in 1996 of four members of a rival gang.
Police General Wut Liptapanlop, deputy-commander of the Crime Investigation Bureau, told reporters that Matusov had entered Thailand in 2009, then left and re-entered the Kingdom on a fake Armenian passport.
He said that he had been living on a retirement visa, which has been revoked, and that Thai authorities were requested to deport him.
Thailand has long been a haven for foreign fugitives, attracted to its easy lifestyle and lax attitude to law enforcement. The country's long and porous borders also make it fairly easy to gain access.
A March 2009 cable from the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok obtained by the anti-secrecy group Wikileaks stated: "Thailand has traditionally been one of the top source countries for extradition of criminals to the U.S." Among them: child molesters, narcotics traffickers and money launderers.
Seaside resorts -- such as Pattaya, 87 miles (140 km) east of Bangkok, with its seedy nightlife, Bavarian beer gardens and pliable police officers -- have often been favored by these fugitives. Satthahip, where Matusov was arrested, is a 20-minute drive from Pattaya, where a large Russian community is living.
In 2006, German resident Wolfgang Uelrich -- who owned a restaurant named "Bavaria House" in Pattaya -- was arrested for having defrauded scores of his compatriots in Germany under a bogus animal charity scheme.
In other provinces in Thailand, the list of arrested fugitives has been extensive -- South Korean mafia bosses, Czech bank robbers and Pakistani passport forgers.
A transnational criminal suppression center was established in Pattaya in 2007 to cope with the surge of foreign criminals in the region. Cooperation between Thai police and foreign law enforcement agencies has also been strengthened in recent years, leading to a series of spectacular operations like the arrest in Bangkok in 2010 of Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout.
Aware of such misgivings, the Thai junta -- who seized power May 22 -- has launched a vigorous campaign to "clean up" Thailand of such activities.
So far, authorities have dealt with illegal taxis run by local mafia bosses and underground casinos -- allowed to operate by bribing local police.
Matusov’s arrest suggests that the junta also wants to shake off the image of Thailand as a notorious "criminal paradise."
During one post-coup public engagement, Junta Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha declared his annoyance that "every time the name of Thailand is quoted in the international news, it is for a negative reason."
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