Dismembered body of man in Bangkok freezer seized with drugs, guns linked to Australian illegal immigrant scam

A BODY found in a freezer has been linked to an Australian illegal immigration scam. WARNING: Graphic images.

Police discovered the dismembered body in the freezer during a drug, firearm and fake passport raid in Bangkok.

WARNING: Graphic images

THE dismembered body of blond man found in a Bangkok freezer during a police raid belonged to “a friend”, one of four foreign nationals arrested allegedly said.

The macabre discovery has been linked to a fake passport scam for hundreds of illegal immigrants from Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan wanting to reach Australia and Europe.

Police in the Thai capital discovered the foreign man’s body, cut into six pieces, during a raid in which they seized drugs, firearms and false passports.

The body parts were wrapped in garbage bags and stored in an industrial-sized freezer at a property owned by dual British US national, Peter Colter, 58, from Northern Ireland.

Burmese housekeepers at the five-storey property, located on Bangkok’s longest street, said they had been ordered to stay away from the freezer when it turned up four months ago.

Colter, also known as American citizen Peter Johnson, 63, was arrested along with US nationals Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33, and James Douglas Eger, 66.

Pictured under arrest with facial injuries, Colter was said in one report to have attempted self harm and described the deceased in the freezer as a “friend”.

Workers carry the body from a Bangkok building following drug, gun and fake passport raids which uncovered a dismembered foreign man in a freezer. Picture: Reuters/Picture Media

Thai forensic officers inspect the corpse which had been cut into six pieces and stored in garbage bags inside an industrial-sized freezer.

Fake passports seized from ‘The Doctor’ who forged them for people wanting to reach Australia illegally. Picture: Thailand Police

Finding the remains of the blond foreigner in an industrial-sized freezer shocked Bangkok police.

Thai police say they found six pistols, methamphetamine, ketamine, marijuana, a printer and chemicals in the raid.

Passports featuring the suspects’ pictures with different names were also allegedly recovered.

Police allege the men were part of a passport forgery syndicate, probably linked to a raid earlier this year of a master forger known as “The Doctor”.

Authorities have been on the hunt for years to locate the man who used imported forgery tools and sophisticated techniques to produce passports for people who wanted to travel to Australia and Europe.

In February they arrested 48-year-old Iranian Hamid Reza Jafary, who was wanted by authorities in Australia, Thailand, Britain, France and New Zealand.

Thai police escort suspect, American James Eger, 66, charged with trafficking in forged passports and concealing a dismembered corpse at a Bangkok apartment. Picture: AP/Sakchai Lalit

Peter Colter, aka Peter Johnson, is led away after the dismembered body of a blond man was found in a freezer at his Bangkok home. Picture: Reuters/Picture Media

Third alleged member of a passport forgery gang, US national Aaron Thomas Gabel, 33, under arrest after the discovery of ice, ketamine, pistols and a body. Picture: Reuters/Picture Media

Jafary confessed to masterminding a major syndicate in the booming Thai market for fake travel documents, some of which police believe have ended up in the hands of criminal and terror networks.

Police were alerted to the “massive” problem in Thailand after two passengers on the missing Malaysian airliner MH370 were found to have bought fake passports in the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya in 2014.

Jafary said the major destinations for travellers with fake passports were Australia and Europe, but that he also sold forged documents for between $2000 and $3200 to human trafficking rings in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Investigators in the body in the freezer raid have called on the FBI to help identify the deceased man.

James Eger, 66 (left) and Aaron Gabel, 33 (centre, checked shirt) sit handcuffed after a police raid on drugs, guns and a dismembered body. Picture: Thai Tourist Police

Deputy police chief spokesman Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen said all three men have been charged with offences including attempting to kill an official on duty, resisting arrest, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, forging official documents and concealing a corpse.

Colter is believed to have been in the country for eight years and is married to a Thai national.

Colonel Phathanacharoen said of the disturbed discovery of the corpse: “We managed to find a big freezer … the body was chopped into different parts. It was concealed in many rubbish bags.”