Officers of the Department of Special Investigation have gone to Malaysia to extradite an Iranian man who jumped bail in Pattaya four years ago in a case involving large-scale passport forgery.
DSI deputy director-general Somsak Raksaksakul said on Thursday that the DSI officials and staff of the Office of the Attorney General went to Malaysia to bring Sayed Ramin Paknejad, 45, back to Thailand.
The man had been arrested in Pattaya City in 2012 for allegedly being part of a gang forging passports and trafficking persons from the Middle East via Thailand to Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Later he jumped bail granted by the Pattaya Court and fled to Malaysia. He was arrested after information was given to Malaysian authorities by the DSI and fought his extradition for three years.
The Federal Court of Malaysia finalised the case and ordered the extradition on April 26 this year, Pol Col Songsak said.
"This suspect was involved in large-scale trading in fake passports. He lived in Pattaya City, Chon Buri province, for longer than 10 years by pretending to be a businessman," he said.
The man was also charged with possessing 0.141 grammes of heroin, theft, the receipt of stolen properties and the forgery of ID cards and international driver's permits.
Authorities had rounded up more than 1,000 fake passports of about 60 countries from his gang, Pol Col Songsak said.