MAE SAI, THAILAND – Thai police are hunting suspects after a 19-year-old Russian woman was found battered on a supermarket car park. Cops fear a cross-border scam gang lured her with a fake job offer.
Cops were called to the Lotus’s Mae Sai branch around 3.45pm on Sunday, August 9. The teen was lying in zone A3 of the car park, bleeding from several injuries.
Russian woman rushed to hospital
Her passport identified her as Mariia Tsygankova, a Russian national. Officers raced her to Mae Sai Hospital for treatment.
Police chief Pol Col Jiraphas Saksung ordered investigators to find a translator. They planned to interview the woman at the hospital as soon as possible.
Journey took her through China and Thailand
According to information passed to police through the interpreter, Tsygankova left Russia to work in China. She then flew to Thailand.
Later, the young woman travelled to Yangon in Myanmar. From there, she reached Tachileik — a town in eastern Myanmar just across the border from Mae Sai.
Police probe promise of high-paying job
Investigators are looking into whether a scam network lured Tsygankova to South-East Asia with the promise of big money. Police are checking her contacts and movements in China and Myanmar.
Police believe the teen may have realised she was tricked while in Tachileik. It is also possible she refused to follow the group’s orders.
Suspected attack and illegal border crossing
Cops suspect the woman was then attacked and smuggled across an unofficial border crossing from Myanmar into Thailand. They believe she was dumped on the Lotus’s car park in Mae Sai.
This possible chain of events has not been independently confirmed. Officers are still investigating how she got her injuries and who brought her to Thailand.
Manhunt for suspects continues
Police are still hunting for possible suspects. Detectives are also trying to piece together the woman’s travel route and what she was doing in the border area.
They are also checking for links to a transnational scam gang. No final information on the culprits or the exact sequence of events is available yet.