An 11-million-baht Lamborghini and a 900,000-baht superbike seized from Akarakit "Benz Racing" Worarojcharoendet failed to draw a single bid at an auction sale by the Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) yesterday.

They were among 129 items on offer in the second round of the ONCB's auction to sell vehicles and jewellery seized during drug arrests.

ONCB secretary-general Sirinya Sitthichai said the assets estimated at more than 370 million baht in total were confiscated during anti-drug operations and suspected of being associated with the drug trade.

Among items which went under the hammer were 80 sets of gold jewellery, 36 cars and trucks and 13 motorcycles as well as highly-prized polished and cut precious stones in 24 boxes worth about 316 million baht.

Other items included an 11-million-baht Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera and 900,000-baht KTM superbike seized from Mr Akarakit who was apprehended in connection with the network of arrested Lao national Xaysana Keopimpha.

Two supercars were offered at the auction. The other, a Lamborghini Huracan worth 20 million baht, was seized from Terdsak Ketprom who was arrested on drug-trafficking charges with a warrant issued in 2011 by the Samut Prakan provincial court.

A 2.5-million-baht Benz CLS350 also seized from Mr Terdsak was among the offerings, the ONCB secretary-general said.

The ONCB chief said criminal proceedings against the owners have not been finalised, so the auction prices are the same as their market prices.

Anyone who wins the bid to buy the items, however, cannot take them home straight away as they must wait for the relevant criminal cases to clear court proceedings first.

"If a court rules the seized assets are not accessories of the crime, we have to return them to the suspects. These assets will remain under the ONCB's custody until a ruling is made," Mr Sirinya said.

Three people expressed interest in bidding for the supercars but no offers were made, he added.

He said the ONCB will discuss with concerned parties if it is possible to lower the prices before a next auction.

He added that drug traffickers are known to launder their money by purchasing luxury vehicles and supercars. The office has confiscated and sold six of these in the past two years.

A source said the Lamborghini and the KTM seized from Mr Akarakit were among the confiscated assets put up for auction on March 26 but no one showed interest in buying them.

The ONCB is scheduled to hold another auction of 20 seized assets on Tuesday estimated at 24 million baht. Proceeds will go to the agency's drug suppression and prevention operations as well as on rehabilitating drug addicts.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo) is due to auction off seized gold jewellery on Wednesday.

Deputy secretary-general Aimorn Chaibuadang said a total of 74 items will be up for bid and anyone who is interested in participating can examine them at the Amlo office one day prior.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by KING-OUA LAOHONG

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]