Spot Checks

[tuktukmike]

PATTAYA: -- A Greek bank robber hiding out in Pattaya has been apprehended and deported by the Immigration Bureau.

The man was uncovered during a spot inspection on the backgrounds of tourists in Pattaya and the surrounding areas, led by superintendent of Pattaya Immigration Police Pol Col Ittipol Ittisanronachai and his deputy Pol Lt Maj Bitti Nittinantsaete acting under the instructions of Immigration commander Pol Lt Gen Suwat Damrongsrisakul. Officers were specifically looking for those who were in hiding after committing crimes in their own country.

Pol Col Ittipol’s team checked the records and discovered that 45-year-old Dimitrios Nikolaos Konidis, holder of a Greek passport, was one such criminal on the run. Officers found him walking on a street in South Pattaya and asked to see his passport. He had been traveling between Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand and had lived in Thailand for the past nine months. Police took him in for questioning at Pattaya Immigration Bureau in Jomtien.
Through background checks it was found that Konidis was involved in a bank robbery with a group of others and had been hiding as a tourist in Pattaya. Police cancelled his visa and blacklisted him before contacting the relevant authorities to initiate deportation procedures.

--Pattaya Mail 2006-03-10

Seems like a lot of so called, Spot Checks at the moment.???????

Mike.

[lomuamart]

They can happen any time, Mike.
Sounds to me like they were looking for him.

[PeteC]

Yeah, I think you're right Lomu. That story has some holes in it. They had his photo and background from Interpol for sure or, someone gave him up. Maybe his under paid girlfriend? Walking Street on any given night in high season has 10,000 plus people strolling. This was not luck.

I do like however like that the names of the Thai police officials take up 51 letters of the second paragraph below. Some weeks The Pattaya Mail has trouble filling space...LOL Pete