Thailand arrests Myanmar military-linked businessman

BANGKOK, Sept 21 (Reuters): Thai authorities said on Wednesday they had detained a Myanmar tycoon suspected of drug trafficking, who three sources said was linked to the upper echelons of Myanmar's ruling military junta.
Tun Min Latt, 53, was arrested in the Thai capital Bangkok in a dawn raid last week along with three Thai nationals on charges of conspiracy to traffic narcotics and money laundering, said Thailand's deputy police spokesperson Kissana Phathanacharoen.
"Police are in the process of requesting the court for pre-trial detention," Kissana told Reuters by phone.
Three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Tun Min Latt, who has business interests in hotels, energy and mining, is a close associate of Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and has procured supplies for the military.
British authorities sanctioned one of Tun Min Latt's businesses in August in what they called an "effort to limit the military's access to arms and revenue."
Myanmar state media have published pictures of Tun Min Latt with the junta leader, including at an arms fair in Bangkok in 2019.
A 2019 UN document says Tun Min Latt is the son of a retired Myanmar lieutenant colonel and that a company he part-owns had made donations amounting to about $71,500 to the Myanmar military in 2017.
Reuters' requests for comment from Tun Min Latt and his companies were not answered. Calls to a Myanmar military spokesperson also went unanswered.