Thailand extradites gambling kingpin She Zhijiang to China

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BANGKOK (Reuters) -Wanted gambling kingpin She Zhijiang is being extradited to China from Bangkok on Wednesday, Thai police said, after a Thai court earlier this week upheld an order that followed a legal battle lasting more than three years.

She Zhijiang, 43, a Chinese national who also holds a Cambodian passport, was arrested by Thai police in August 2022 on an international warrant and an Interpol red notice requested by Beijing, which accused him of running illegal online gambling operations.

A Thai criminal court ordered his extradition in May 2024 and another court upheld the decision on Monday after an appeal by She’s legal team.

“The Chinese have asked for this suspect, which is a high priority for China,” Police Lieutenant General Jirabhop Bhuridej, an assistant commissioner-general, told reporters.

She will be extradited to China to stand trial for operating illegal casinos and gambling websites, as well as using Myanmar as a base for these illegal operations and to launder money, a Thai police statement said on Wednesday.

China, which has dispatched a plane to pick She up at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, also expressed its gratitude to the Thai authorities for their handling of the case.

“This demonstrates the high level of our cooperation,” said Zhao Mengtao, a counselor at the Chinese embassy in Bangkok.

The two countries will strengthen their cooperation in tackling organised crime like online gambling and cyber scams, Zhao added.

Responding to the extradition, his lawyer Sanya Eadjongdee called the process “unusual”, but he did not elaborate. He said that She continues to deny any wrongdoing.

At the time of his arrest, She headed a gambling empire that included a $15 billion casino, entertainment and tourism complex called Shwe Kokko on the Thai-Myanmar border.

The U.S. Treasury Department in September sanctioned nine companies and individuals tied to Shwe Kokko for their links to regional scam and trafficking networks.

The border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia have become hubs for online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the United Nations says billions of dollars have been earned from the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of people forced to work in these compounds.

(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by David Stanway)