BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): The Metropolitan Police Bureau has ordered officers to expand their investigation of three Chinese nationals who were arrested near the border with Cambodia on Sunday (March 19) for allegedly kidnapping a young Chinese woman in Bangkok’s Ekkamai area on Thursday.
The three Chinese nationals, two men and one woman, were arrested at a hotel in Sa Kaeo province's Aranyaprathet district by Khlong Luek police and charged with extortion and illegal detainment.
Ran Xiaoyong, Zeng Bo and Nie Lijiao allegedly kidnapped the female Chinese student and forced her to transfer crypto currency from her account to accounts they held.
The incident began on Thursday night when the female suspect invited the student for dinner in Ekkamai. Police say the student was subsequently detained in a van.
She was forced to transfer digital currency worth 270,000 baht (RM35,500) to them, police said.
The suspects also demanded ransom of 2.9 million baht (RM380,000) from the student’s relatives and boyfriend. They released the student in Bangkok's Minburi district on Friday, police said.
The female suspect had known the student for almost a year, police said, adding that the student had received a large sum of cash from a land deal in China.
The Metropolitan Police Bureau has instructed investigators to determine whether the trio was involved with a Chinese triad in Myanmar's Tachileik town near Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district.
Four members of a Chinese triad reportedly used military-grade firearms to kidnap a woman in a convenience store in the town in March. They demanded payment of 2 million to 3 million baht per person from several relatives before releasing her.
Myanmar police have yet to arrest the gang members.
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