Thai police said yesterday that two men accused of hiding a dismembered body in a Bangkok house freezer and running a fake passport ring are Americans.
The pair were arrested last week along with a third suspect who allegedly opened fire on police during a raid on the shophouse they used as a crime den in the Thai capital.
They were caught in possession of multiple passports, a cache of drugs and three guns.
A search of a padlocked freezer found the body of a foreigner chopped into six pieces.
“We confirm two of them are Americans,” said Bangkok’s police chief Sanit Mahathavorn, after several days of liasing with US authorities to identify the men.
Sanit declined to name them.
The case has gripped the Thai public with its gruesome nature and suggestions of foreign-run crime networks operating in the heart of the capital.
Yet police are still trying to gather firm details including the nationality of the third suspect, named by officers as “Peter”, who reportedly shot and injured a police officer during the raid.
“Peter has ten passports. We cannot yet identify his nationality,” said Sanit, adding that police are searching for his Thai wife for more clues.
Forensic officers have yet to identify the man inside the freezer and say it is still unclear how he died and whether he was dismembered before or after death.
The three men have been charged with multiple offences, including concealing a body, forging official documents and attempting to kill an officer on duty.
Police said they denied the charges and have told officers the freezer belonged to someone else.
Foreign criminals and fugitives have long sought out Thailand as a hub for running syndicates involved in everything from gem thefts to people-smuggling and contract killing.
A thriving fake documents trade has helped shield countless criminals from authorities, with local police notorious for accepting bribes to look the other way.
In February a Spanish man was arrested for allegedly extorting and murdering a compatriot in Bangkok and tossing his body parts into the city’s main river, where they were later discovered by police.