Police in Thailand have apprehended a Slovak national who has been on the run for some 15 years, the TASR newswire learnt from Police Corps Presidium spokeswoman Andrea Dobiášová on Aril 29.
The man, referred to only as Dušan K., was detained on April 25 in a village called Wang Nam Khai in the Nakhon Ratchasima province. The Slovak police have been hunting for him since 1999. A respective international arrest warrant was made out in 2000. According to Dobiašová, the arrest was possible thanks to co-operation between the Slovak police, the Interpol National Central Bureau in Slovakia and Thai authorities. The man allegedly used false identification documents and violated Thailand’s immigration laws by residing there without valid travel documents. A financial penalty imposed as a result was settled for him by his Thai girlfriend.
While in the country, he made a living by producing meat products. “He denied his identity upon arrest,” Dobiášová said. “He claimed to be a different person who, according to the citizens’ registry, didn’t match his appearance.” She added that the Slovak authorities are currently in intensive contact with their counterparts in Thailand, seeking to have the man brought to Slovakia.
Dušan K. was touted as one of the mob bosses in the town of Martin. He is said to have been a member of an organised criminal group involved in serious crimes back in the 1990s. He went on the run in 1998 after the District Court in Žilina decided not to remand him custody awaiting trial. Dušan K. and another person committed themselves to remain in Slovakia while the investigation was ongoing, but Dušan K. failed to respond to police summons on several occasions. When the police attempted to detain him, he escaped in his car and managed to avoid arrest until now.
Slovak authorities are arranging for his transport to the country.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
