Police arrested a Chinese suspect for paying a 12 million baht ransom for two Chinese businessmen just before he boarded a Cambodia-bound plane at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The Immigration Police Division 2 said the suspect, identified as Liu, was detained while checking in for Phnom Penh-bound flight ZA679 at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday evening.

Police searched the suspect’s luggage and found several pairs of plastic handcuffs, cash and a Cedeao passport, also known as an Ecowas passport, a common passport document issued by members of the Economic Community of West African States.

Immigration police said Chinese businessmen Xie Chuanqi and Xie Chuanfa filed a complaint at Sutthisarn Station in Bangkok on Sunday saying they had been kidnapped and ransomed by five Chinese men. The detained suspect was believed to be one of the bandits.

According to police, the victims claimed they were kidnapped at gunpoint from the Anget Property (Thailand) Co office in Bangkok’s Huai Kwang district on Saturday.

The gang took 3.2 million baht in cash from the company’s office, which is located in a rented house. The gang later forced the suspects to transfer another US$270,000 into their account, amounting to a total of about 12 million baht.

The two men were released in the Kaset Nawamin area of ​​Bangkok’s Bangkhen district later that day.