01x03 - The Playboy Drug Lord

[bunniefuu]

The Golden Triangle's
a beautiful area

but underneath is
a dark underbelly.

It's unquestionably
the epicenter

of illicit drug production.

In recent years

meth production has exploded.

Nowhere else in the world

are we seeing a meth market

that is so complex

and at the same time so huge.

This region has

on its hands, a meth epidemic.

No! I don't want to!

Thai police believed

that Xaysana
Keopimpha was behind

a major drug
trafficking syndicate.

He was handsome, charming

and super rich.

He knew a lot of celebrities

and stars in Thailand.

And he wasn't shy about

flaunting it on social media.

Word on the street was

he was worth US$30 million

and was pumping

millions of tonnes of meth

through Thailand.

But proving it and catching him

wasn't going to be easy.

It happened at around 11am.

- Hello.
- Hello.

Where are you going?

We're going home.

Are you from here?

I just moved here.

What do you have in the back?

Nothing. Just the
two of us here.

Sir.

Step out of the vehicle.

(Foreign language)

- (Foreign language)
- Step out.

- Go to the back.
- Step out.

Go to the back.

What's in the back
of the vehicle?

Clothes.

Open it.

Get down!

Hands behind your back.

- Stay still.
- It's all in the back.

We found massive
amounts of drugs.

A million yaba
tablets were seized.

Worth between US$3 to 9 million

on the market.

As seizures go, this was huge.

We've managed to seize

a large amount of drugs

from this bust.

We found a total of

around one million yaba pills.

The drugs were being smuggled

from Laos down to Malaysia

via Thailand's southern border.

But the methamphetamine

was coming from where

all methamphetamine originated.

The Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle's
a beautiful area

but there's a degree
of lawlessness

kind of under the surface.

The Golden Triangle

is the part of Southeast Asia

where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos

come together.

Basically in a perfect triangle.

Heroin first

made the Golden Triangle famous

in around 1970s.

But by the 1990s

methamphetamine was taking over.

At first, small clandestine labs

began popping up in the jungles

but in recent years

meth production has exploded.

Currently in the Golden Triangle

we see the largest production

of crystal meth in the world

taking place. And
what they've done

is set up super labs.

The power of

these methamphetamine super labs

is that they can produce meth

24 hours, seven days a week.

These can manufacture

tonnes and tonnes of meth

in a production run

tens of tonnes actually.

This region has

on its hands, a meth epidemic.

And Thai police were
looking for those

who were behind it.

In 2012, police
were investigating

a drug trafficking syndicate

that was operating

on the southern
border in Thailand.

During the investigation

they traced a phone number

that was linked to

a Laotian luxury car dealership.

That dealership

belonged to a businessman

by the name of
Xaysana Keopimpha.

He was handsome, charming

and super rich.

He appeared to
love the limelight

but something wasn't quite right

with his story.

Where did his wealth

and connections come from?

Xaysana was going around

telling people that

he'd made his fortune

through logging.

In Laos, logging is
still an industry

where you can make a good coin

legal and ill*gal.

But many people felt that.

Xaysana had popped
up out of nowhere

that he was making his money

way too fast.

But if Xaysana was
in fact profiting

from a drug
trafficking syndicate

then Thai police had to

either link him to the money

or link him to the drugs.

That's where the NSB came in.

The Narcotics Suppression Bureau

or NSB

was formed in 1992 to combat.

Thailand's growing
drug epidemic.

Since the 1960s, Thailand's

northern border with Myanmar

was a major trafficking route

for heroin.

That heroin for the most part

ended up on the
streets of America

and Europe.

But come the 1990s

that drastically changed.

Methamphetamine took over.

And that meth
flooded the markets

throughout Southeast Asia

including Thailand.

Yaba is essentially

a small speed pill.

It ranges from 10% to 20% meth

the rest is made of caffeine

colors and dyes.

It started out as
a workers' drug.

Truck drivers, taxi drivers

they need to work
12 hours a day.

When you use it

you won't be able to sleep.

So people call it
the crazy pill.

- Oh my god!
- No!

Are you crazy?

Why are you trying to arrest me?

No one wants to hurt you!

I told you, I'm not going!

The outcome is

usually violent hallucinations.

Sometimes you don't even realize

what you've done.

Hurry!

A young boy is seen

being held at knifepoint

by a deranged man

sitting on the side of the road.

Officers are trying
to calm him down.

You go into some psychosis

where the world becomes unreal.

No! I don't want to go!

No! I don't want to!

Yaba is now widespread.

During that time, the borders

became heavily militarized

and the NSB, they
led that charge.

We're in charge of investigating

all drug-related cases.

The NSB works with

local, provincial
and border police

along with customs officials.

Together they try
to gather evidence

to take down drug syndicates

operating in Thailand.

They're very much like

the DEA of America

whose main task

is to go after the big fish.

The big crime syndicates.

They constantly
monitor the movements

of traffickers and
their operations.

Thailand is considered

a vital transit point

for drug syndicates.

In terms of numbers

half a billion yaba tablets

are trafficked through Thailand

every year.

And that's mostly

because of the country's

geographical significance

being right beside the triangle.

It's a key distribution country.

And from Thailand, it gets sent

to the rest of Southeast Asia.

Meth is hitting the streets

of New Zealand, Australia

Japan, Korea, where it commands

the highest price in the world

per kilo.

Whether it's by
land, sea or air.

These routes are the main routes

straight from the supplier.

What we've seen is
the infiltration

of major transnational

organized crime.

Production is at all-time highs

and so are the profits.

On average, a yaba tablet

costs around five US dollars

in Southeast Asia.

But when we start taking a look

at the higher end
methamphetamine

the crystal or the ice

that can sell for

thousands of US
dollars per gram.

The difficulty for the NSB

was the complex hierarchy

of these drug
trafficking syndicates.

So the way it
typically works is that

drug mules move the drugs

onward to couriers

who then pass it on

to other couriers.

It's a chain. And
even if the NSB

step into that chain

and arrest intermediaries

it's almost impossible

to find the destination

and who ultimately is behind

the entire shipment.

Get down! Hands
behind your back.

- Stay still.
- It's all in the back.

For the longest time

Thai police had been searching

for the ringleaders
who were shipping

huge amounts of yaba
into the country

from the Golden Triangle.

The people we arrested to date

were drug mules.

But drug mules can often

have important clues.

The mule told us he was hired

by a guy called Witwatchai,

or Mr Ae.

We issued an arrest warrant.

The mule told us

this boss had flown

to Hat Yai in the south

and was waiting for them there.

So we headed to Hat Yai airport

to arrest him.

Mr Ae Witwatchai.

I called you in here

because I want your cooperation.

It's for your own good.

We found out that

you work for a powerful man.

I don't know what
you're talking about.

If you don't come clean.

I will prosecute you.

But if you cooperate with us

we'll make you a state witness.

He told us

the name of a Thai trafficker.

Mr Chumphon.

There's nothing to worry about.

I'll take care of it.

Thai authorities
knew that Chumphon

was only a small-time dealer.

Mr Chumphon

had previously been arrested

for marijuana trafficking.

I also worked with
one other guy.

Everyone calls him Brother Lop.

What's his real name?

I don't know.

Everyone just calls
him Brother Lop.

Slowly, the NSB was revealing

the drug syndicate's hierarchy.

He mentioned a guy from Laos

called Mr Lop.

We didn't have any information

on who he was.

Thai police had two questions.

Who was supplying the mules

with millions of pills?

And where did this
mysterious Laotian.

Mr Lop, fit into

the drug syndicate's hierarchy?

Laos has always played actually

quite a crucial role

in the Golden Triangle.

It's corruptible

easy to move things in and out.

It's the only country

that shares a land border with

every other country
in the Mekong.

Laos has more than

a 1,000km border

along the Mekong river.

There are literally

hundreds of potential spots

along the way

that syndicates can
move their drugs

in and out of Laos

on to other countries

and that makes it
extremely difficult

to police.

The remote nature of the Golden.

Triangle really does make it

really advantageous

for organized crime.

I mean, you could move product

out of the Mekong River itself.

You can move it out

through the mountains.

You could move it
out through roads.

So the drug traffickers use Laos

as a trafficking route.

It's got all the
elements necessary

for successful organized crime.

It's a trafficker's paradise

essentially.

And the place was
home to Xaysana

the mysterious
logging millionaire.

He was in the
perfect place to run

a billion-dollar drug syndicate.

But if he was running one

how was he doing it?

Xaysana's social media accounts

showed off his lavish lifestyle.

There were photos of him

with many luxury cars.

He was well-known

among the elite social circle

and owned extensive businesses.

He held many parties.

He was outgoing

and spent a lot of money

just to show off his wealth.

The cars he owned
were something that

just hit the sweet spot for me.

They were exquisite.

All my life

I wanted to have what he had.

I heard once

he was trying to bid on a car

worth about US$300,000

and he paid double of that

just to win the bid.

He was known

to hire actors and celebrities

for big events

and it was there
that he'd network.

He was really good

at developing relationships

with people who had influence

and notoriety.

People in the
entertainment industry

knew Xaysana.

He took pictures
with famous people

so he could show it off.

He wanted to use
their connections

to grow his business.

Xaysana took these relationships

and then capitalized on them

with new businesses.

At one point, he
was into luxury cars

high-end real estate

as well as luxury watches.

The word on the street was that

at one point he was worth.

US$30 million.

And it really seemed like

he had a Midas touch.

Every venture he went into

he succeeded at that.

It seemed he couldn't make

a wrong move.

Intelligence from a
Thai police source

revealed a shipment of drugs

would be transported

on 1 October 2016.

- Key?
- Here.

Where did you park?

Over there.

Freeze.

Get down! Kneel
down. Don't move!

The sting was a success.

And police had two new suspects

in custody.

The driver told police that

this was a major
trafficking route

that drugs would go from Laos

through southern Thailand

to Malaysia and farther beyond.

The crime syndicate was moving

massive amounts of drugs

along this route

and the driver gave up

a familiar name.

The mystery Laotian, Mr Lop.

The drug mules revealed

that Mr Lop was in fact

running the entire
drug syndicate

from Laos.

This was the break

the NSB was looking for.

At this point, the
NSB had built up

a profile of Mr Lop

and all signs
pointed to Xaysana.

If the police could identify him

they think they could bring down

the whole network.

Then, Thai police
got a new lead.

They managed to pull out

phone numbers from the phones

they had seized
from the drug mules.

Phone numbers they thought

could belong to the ringleaders

of the drug trafficking network.

They managed to
extract two numbers.

The first one was a Thai number.

The second one was from Laos.

Both were stored in the phone

under the name, Mr Lop.

This was the first
piece of evidence

that allowed police

to link to Mr Lop.

The Thailand number
was a dead end

because it was registered

using a false identity.

And it was beyond
our jurisdiction

to trace the Laotian number.

So that came to a dead end too.

The police just didn't have

enough leads.

He remained in the shadows.

The NSB went into high gear.

Slow down.

The light is red,
it's red. Act now!

Get out!

Block him in the front.

Get out of the vehicle! Get out!

All resources were devoted

to finding out

who this mysterious Mr Lop was.

Calm down.

Wait. We've been following you.

So the dealer will call you?

Isn't this a Laotian number?

Why is a Laotian
number calling you?

We're waiting for
him to call us.

You're waiting for him to call?

If he calls you again, pick up

and talk normally.
You understand?

The NSB

made an incredible breakthrough.

The phone number

from the seized phones

was in fact linked

to a Facebook account.

The Facebook account

that police found was

in the name of
Xaysana Keopimpha.

At first, police
couldn't believe it

that a man that had gone

to great strides to
hide his identity

from his drug mules had actually

put his phone number online

and linked it to a
Facebook account.

Xaysana Keopimpha

the millionaire businessman

the friend to the stars

was actually Mr Lop.

This revelation now linked him

to the drug mules

and, by default, the drugs.

To prove that Xaysana

was, in fact, Mr Lop

the NSB needed a positive ID.

They needed somebody

who had met Mr Lop in person.

If they could prove that

then they were closer to busting

the trafficking syndicate.

They went back to
Chumphon prison

to interrogate Mr Ae

who is the first drug trafficker

they had arrested.

What about his appearance?

Well, he's quite
tall, fair-skinned

and likes wearing
gold accessories.

Stuff like this.

Like this?

Is this him?

Mr Ae confirmed that

the Facebook photo of Xaysana

was Mr Lop, the man he had been

transporting drugs for.

The police couldn't believe it.

Xaysana was successfully

moving trillions of tablets

of methamphetamine

out of the Golden
Triangle each year.

But catching him

wasn't going to be easy.

There was no way for Thai police

to get at him.

Then, luck played into

the hands of Thai police.

A source tipped them off

that Xaysana was
going on vacation

in Thailand.

Police issued an arrest warrant

for Xaysana.

By liaising

with various government agencies

they figured out he
had gone to Phuket.

There were about five people

in his entourage.

We set up.

Operation Chaiya Sayop Pairee

with the NSB

the armed forces and
the local police.

We followed this group

to see where they traveled to

whom they contacted

where they stayed
and what they did

so we could plan the arrest.

Authorities learned
he was going to

travel back to Laos through.

Bangkok's international airport.

The NSB and other
agencies planned

to arrest Xaysana
in the afternoon

at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

That morning of 19 January 2017

I was told to go

to the Narcotics
Suppression Bureau

before heading

to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Based on our evidence right now

one of the drug lords

from our neighboring country

is about to land

in Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The man we're arresting

is Xaysana.

For the past few years

there have been numerous cases

of drug trafficking

from the northeast

spreading to the central.

On 1st October, we seized

1.2 million at
Sikhio checkpoint.

The drug kingpin imported drugs

from our neighboring countries

in the northeast.

The meeting was to explain

what the press were to do

where the reporters should be

and how the investigation team

would arrest him.

We waited near the exit.

They don't know why we're here.

Think we're welcoming
a Korean star.

They don't know why we're here.

But we know where
they're headed.

We had planned the
arrest in detail

and were prepared to grab him

at the airport departure area.

Of course this
created quite a stir

at the airport.

There were around 50 officers

with various roles

from different operation teams.

People there were quite shocked

probably thinking.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Lie on the ground.
On the ground.

Get his passport.

Hands behind your
back. Handcuff him.

Don't waste time, do it.

- Take him down.
- Give me your bag.

Search him.

Guys, relax. I'm...

Don't, don't switch
off your phone.

What's your name?

- Xaysana.
- Xaysana, right?

Keep walking.

Hurry up.

- Which gate is the van?
- Exit 1.

Xaysana appeared shocked

and surprised at being arrested.

Xaysana claimed he was innocent.

He denied his involvement.

- Gate 1. Come on.
- Out this gate.

Take him.

Get ready to take him in.

Get in there.

He's the drug lord we've been

tracking down for five years.

Through the combined efforts

of the NSB

the CIB

and the provincial police

from various regions

we were able to
bust their network

and arrest the suspect today.

We're ready to freeze his assets

to disrupt their trading routes

and stop them

from ruining our
children's lives.

Xaysana was

the first big arrest in breaking

the major drug
trafficking network

in Thailand.

Before Xaysana's arrest

the police had only
caught small fry

like the drug mules

and the small-time traffickers

smuggling small
quantities of drug.

The arrest was a major coup.

It made prime time news

across all media outlets.

The arrest of major
Laotian drug lord.

Xaysana Keopimpha.

This is a major breakthrough

as he's behind the flow of drugs

from our neighboring country...

Next up, news on
Xaysana's syndicate.

Have we gotten to the bottom

of this massive drug network?

Is he really the mastermind?

Or did we just arrest

another pawn in the game?

There is one man

who can give us the answers.

- A Lao national.
- Yes.

They said this man

is the ringleader

of the biggest drug network

in Southeast Asia.

After Xaysana was arrested

we ran a major story on him

showing his Facebook photos

that highlighted
his lavish lifestyle

in both Thailand and Laos.

Xaysana was unlike any other

trafficker in the
Golden Triangle.

He had flashed his
lavish lifestyle

all across social media.

His arrest

made headlines around the world.

After the arrest of Xaysana

on 19 January 2017

the police held him

at the NSB headquarters

and began the interrogation.

Due to the serious
nature of his crimes

he could be remanded for 84 days

under the court's jurisdiction.

It gave the police time

to find evidence
and build the case.

He told the police

that he wasn't the ringleader.

He was just a middleman

sending drugs from Laos.

Police then gathered
more evidence

to support their case.

Police found
Xaysana's cell phone

and retrieved the old messages

backed up on his phone.

Even though Xaysana had swapped

his SIM card for a local card.

His messages detailed

millions of dollars

worth of drug deals.

And police could see

that he was chatting with

many known dealers.

These messages were the evidence

that police needed.

The messages connected him

to the big drug busts

and the traffickers

that were working for him.

Police followed the money trail

and found the stash
of US$30 million

that he had hidden.

After receiving payment

from his drug deals

he'd transfer the cash

to his money-laundering g*ng

in Thailand.

It would then be sent to someone

in the border of Thailand

and the transferred cash

would be withdrawn

and handed over to
Xaysana in person.

Xaysana would then use it

to finance his businesses

and buy properties
and luxury cars.

This is how drug traffickers

launder money.

Xaysana had no qualms

about being in the public eye

because he thought

he wouldn't get caught

since he wasn't
directly involved

in the drug trafficking.

I was very proud

to be doing business
with Xaysana.

He was very good at the job

and he was extremely talented.

I'm truly sorry he got arrested.

At this point

police finally had
all the evidence

they needed to go to trial.

The charges were
conspiracy to commit

money laundering and
drug trafficking.

After he confessed,
he thought that

since he didn't own the drugs

his sentence should be lighter.

But in Thailand, the
penalty's the same

whether you're a middleman

or a trafficker.

You're still conspiring
to sell drugs.

There is nothing

a mafia drug lord can do

when he makes a
mistake like this.

Drugs are toxic

to a country's
security and welfare

so in Thailand

the government is serious about

cracking down on
all drug crimes.

Especially the traffickers

if you're caught

it's either the death sentence

or life in jail.

After hearing the
cross examination

on 20 March 2018

the criminal court

announced its decision.

The court found Xaysana guilty

and sentenced him to death.

But later, the
penalty was reduced

and he was given a life sentence

since he confessed.

The court saw that
he had cooperated

with the police, giving them

information about drug smuggling

in the southern
part of Thailand.

So the judge reduced his penalty

to a life sentence

for both charges.

We've deployed the
investigation team.

He made the mistake of

underestimating Thai law

and the ability of
authorities here.

Xaysana challenged the ruling

in the Court Of Appeals.

But the process can
be very lengthy.

If the evidence
lacks credibility

the court won't accept it

and will give out
the same verdict

or an even more severe penalty.

Xaysana will most probably

spend the rest of
his life in jail.

- Sir, drugs.
- Get down!

- Hands behind your back.
- Kneel!

Stay still.

I am proud

to be part of Xaysana's arrest.

He was a big-time drug lord

in the game.

Xaysana was a
high-ranking dealer

in Asia

but there are still

much bigger drug lords out there

and the police still don't know

who they are.

Since I retired

the drug trade has continued.

It's gotten worse

with no end in sight.

As long as there is a demand

for their illicit products

there's always gonna
be a supply chain.

It's a great time

to be a drug trafficker

in the Golden Triangle.

With drug warlords

in the Golden Triangle

take one out

pretty soon,
another one emerges.

Someone else replaces them.

Someone fills the void.