Thai police say murdered Nigerian man and his Vietnamese lover may have links to drug smugglers
The police in Thailand on Thursday, August 11, said the Nigerian man and a Vietnamese woman recently found dead in Nakhon Ratchasima, were lovers and their deaths may be linked to transnational crystal methamphetamine trafficking.
Chika Anaebom Henry, 38, popularly known as Chika Malaysia, and his girlfriend, Nguyen Thi Van, a 33-year-old Vietnamese woman, were murdered and buried in a shallow grave.
A wild mushroom harvester discovered their bodies in a forest in Chok Chai district in Nakhon Ratchasima on the evening of July 28, 2022.
Speaking on Thursday, after being briefed by investigators at Provincial Police Region 3, Pol Gen Suchart Teerasawat, Thailand’s deputy national police chief, said they have obtained surveillance camera footage from areas around the burial site.
The police chief also stated that they are checking on vehicles seen entering the area around the time the pair were believed to have been killed and buried.
The report said information exchanged with neighbouring Vietnam suggested the murdered couple might have been linked to a major crystal methamphetamine trafficking gang, as the house where they resided in Vietnam was a suspected transit point on a known smuggling route.
However, investigators remained uncertain whether international traffickers were directly involved in their murder.
Pol Gen Suchart said the cartridges, the bullets and the source of the cement used to cover the bodies were still being followed up.
Relatives of the murdered Nigerian had not yet picked up his body. Police had been contacted by an elder brother, who initially confirmed the victim’s identity from photos and dental records.
Accounts given by relatives of the victims pointed to them being lovers, said Pol Gen Suchhart.
Some witnesses had provided clues as to who had been in the area at the time of the double murder, which was believed to have been on July 17, 2022.
Meanwhile, a childhood friend of the deceased, Gerald Samuel, took to Facebook on Tuesday, August to mourn him.
“When we started it together it seems like an Endless Journey . I never wanted to say Goodbye My Brother, my best Friend. Rest in peace Asian Tiger , Malaysian King . Alafin. Chika Malaysia, Agu Umuahia. May God Avenge your dead. Rest in peace,” he wrote.
