Thai drug dealer's cars auctioned off

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Thai drug dealer's cars auctioned off 
Bangkok Post: 5 Sep 2010
Drug dealer's wheels go under the hammer

The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) yesterday auctioned 14 luxury cars valued at more than 80 million baht, attracting wealthy motoring enthusiasts and second-hand car dealers.

The cars were confiscated from a suspected drug network led by Usman Salaemaeng, an alleged major trafficker said to be active in the insurgency-plagued southern border province of Narathiwat. Mr Usman is still at large abroad.

The suspected drug network allegedly laundered drug money through running a used car dealership on Rama IX Road, operated by Humdam Salaemaeng, a younger brother of Mr Usman.

The famed marques under the hammer included a Ferrari sports car with an auction price starting at 15 million baht, a Lamborghini (2 million baht), an Aston Martin (10 million baht), a Porsche Cayenne (10 million baht) and many other expensive vehicles.

Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, who presided over the opening of the auction, said the ONCB has so far seized 1,804 cars from drug dealers and put them up for auction, fetching about 512 million baht.

A total of 294 million baht had been returned to car finance companies and 218 million baht had been contributed to a drug-suppression fund run by the ONCB.

The remaining 647 cars that have not been auctioned will be put at the service of government agencies, Mr Pirapan said.

He said Mr Usman was still on the run from justice and remained active in the drug trade overseas.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/194651/drug-dealer-wheels-go-under-the-hammer