Rambo's lonely lair: Inside the Loch Palm hideout of the drug kingpin arrested in Phuket

[webfact]

Rambo's lonely lair: Inside the Loch Palm hideout of the drug kingpin arrested in Phuket


The Royal Thai Police sent its very best anti-drug commandos with DEA agents to arrest Joseph

PHUKET: -- Alleged hitman Joseph Hunter was a recluse who took care to avoid contact with neighbours, instead holing himself up inside his Phuket home.

The Royal Thai Police sent its very best anti-drug commandos with DEA agents to arrest Joseph
Alleged drug kingpin and contract killer Joseph Hunter spent six months holed up inside his Phuket home. avoiding contact with the outside world prior to his arrest last month, estate staff say.

The 48-year-old US national rented a modest one-storey home in Garden Villas, part of the exclusive Baan Suan housing estate inside Kathu district's Loch Palm Golf Club.

Staff at the housing estate paint Mr Hunter as a virtual recluse, a ''good tenant'' who ensured his bills were paid on time but took equal care to avoid contact with others.

''He seemed to enjoy a private life,'' a pool cleaner at the estate said. ''My colleagues and I never saw him swim or relax by the pool, even though it is located directly opposite his house.

''We had no idea he was a bad person. He never caused problems for anyone.''

Mr Hunter, known to his friends as ''Rambo'', served as a sniper instructor and drill sergeant during his time in the US military from 1983 to 2004 before allegedly turning to a life of organised crime.

He was deported from Bangkok to New York shortly after his arrest to face charges of conspiracy, attempting to import cocaine and planning to kill a law enforcement agent.

US officials say Mr Hunter led a ring of former military snipers who killed people for money, and operated a drug network spanning much of Asia.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges in a brief court appearance last Saturday.Two co-defendants, a German and a fellow American, also pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

Locating Mr Hunter's house inside the maze of luxury villas and sprawling green lawns that make up Baan Suan proved difficult, but with the aid of two security guards, Bangkok Post Sunday eventually arrived outside the front of number 34.

By all appearances it is a normal home, a medium-sized one-storey residence with a small, lush front yard. The doors and windows were all locked, and the curtains drawn.

Peeking through a crack in the curtains, it appeared the contents of the home had been left undisturbed. Magazines lay strewn across the living room, pillows were haphazardly arranged on the coach, and yellow flowers wilted on a small coffee table.

The pool cleaner said Mr Hunter rarely ventured outside the home and almost never fraternised with friends or neighbours.

''During his six-month stay, he was a good and quiet tenant. He always paid the bills on time,'' he said.

''I never saw him communicate with other neighbours. The only person I saw visiting him often was his Filipina girlfriend. She was in her 20s, and would often stay with him for a week at a time before going away again for five or six weeks.

''Sometimes he went out on his motorbike and return a short time later with bags from 7-Eleven, then lock himself in the house again.''

The pool cleaner said he would often exchange smiles with Mr Hunter, but the two never spoke.

''He drew the curtains all the time, and only asked for his house to be cleaned once a week,'' he said, adding that most residents opt for twice-weekly cleaning.

''He kept a close eye on the maids all the time when they were cleaning his house.''

A woman who babysits for the house next door to Mr Hunter's gave a similar account of his activities.

''I am usually here from the afternoon until the late morning of the next day. I noticed he [Mr Hunter] did not go out much during the day time. If he did, it would only be for 20-30 minutes and then he would return,'' she said.

''But I often saw him venture out in the evening, sometimes alone and sometimes with his girlfriend.''

Loch Palm Golf Club staff said Mr Hunter had never shown his face around the club or used any of the club's services.


-- Phuket News 2013-10-10

[FireMedic]

I'd rather get to hear about the inside of local politicians houses, visitors, cars, and whatnots.....

[Thaddeus]

The pool cleaner appears to be the main source of information for this article.

I wonder who this chaps Thai contacts to the drug world were, will we find out? ........don't bother answering that, obviously.

[purrboat]

A lot of news about nothing. Same old same old. A small fish by all accounts, big deal

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

this is a rewrite of a story posted over a week ago

[LivinginKata]

this is a rewrite of a story posted over a week ago

I was thinking much the same. Nothing new in that new news report.

[SOTIRIOS]

...obviously the only way to have some privacy.....and still......

....the well-to-do Thais and criminals have their ways....after all...they are Thais...and we are not.....

[BlackJack]

US officials say Mr Hunter led a ring of former military snipers who killed people for money, and operated a drug network spanning much of Asia.

sounds like he was CIA

[chrisinth]

I think its about time that the government utilized the Phuket News reporters and send them down 'South' to sort out the situation down there with their investigative journalism skills................

This level of reporting is wasted on alleged drug kingpins & contract hitmen on the island....................

[shaurene]

He obviously never did any one harm around the area. If he was CIA the American people involved in his arrest would have been given a quiet talking to well before to put it to bed.

Suppose he was like a mercenary group paid by many, if he was CIA and needed to get away in a safe manner this would have been the way for the CIA to get him away.

All exciting anyway.

[A1Str8]

He is back home already. Why doesn't the media leave him alone and talk about the local boys..those on top that ruin the country. Oh my bad, the media has just received a warning from the army chief to shut up.

[oxo1947]

Alleged hitman Joseph Hunter was a recluse who took care to avoid contact with neighbours, instead holing himself up inside his Phuket home.

Staff at the housing estate paint Mr Hunter as a virtual recluse, a ''good tenant'' who ensured his bills were paid on time but took equal care to avoid contact with others.

Great I would swap him any day for the Farang Lunatics that have moved into our estate.

But seriously I am not trying to paint him as a good guy---but reading the European Newspapers is a little different story than Pkuket (News?) ----at this point of time. he is not being charged with killing anyone

He is being charged with conspiring to kill someone----who did he conspire with, Yes the Police-- who acting undercover offered him $800,000 to kill a DEA agent. when he accepted by e-mail. He was arrested.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/

He was caught in an international sting operation by the DEA, in which agents posed as Colombian drug lords and offered Hunter a contract to kill a fellow DEA agent and informer in Liberia for $800,000.

[jmccarty]

The pool cleaner appears to be the main source of information for this article.

I wonder who this chaps Thai contacts to the drug world were, will we find out? ........don't bother answering that, obviously.

You have your answer in your posting. Nobody would suspect the pool cleaner!

[Monkeyrobot]

Never trust those pool cleaners.

[Billy The Kid]

You can run but you cant hide.

[marell]

US officials say Mr Hunter led a ring of former military snipers who killed people for money, and operated a drug network spanning much of Asia.

sounds like he was CIA

Right. And all the dodgy Russians around are KGB, all the Chinese tourists are MSS, and all the Brits having a beer over in the corner are MI6. Imagination is a wonderfully entertaining thing.

[gemini81]

Seems he was set up and stepped into the trap by making agreements. Seems he was bred and groomed by the very folks who trained him. Within, I guess he selected the wrong gangster cronies.

[mok199]

the profit on cocain is huge...esp here in thailand...but very very hard to import unless you pay people off....he will be thinking about his mistakes for many years to come....GREED...........

[gemini81]

US officials say Mr Hunter led a ring of former military snipers who killed people for money, and operated a drug network spanning much of Asia.

sounds like he was CIA

Right. And all the dodgy Russians around are KGB, all the Chinese tourists are MSS, and all the Brits having a beer over in the corner are MI6. Imagination is a wonderfully entertaining thing.

Boy have you got a lot of research to do! The government and agencies would never, never lie to people (like the CIA running all dope operatings in and out of afghanistan, as they did in Laos, along with tons of people getting whacked & set up throughout its history).

Edited October 10, 2013 by gemini81

[alfalfa19]

Supposedly, this guy was a navy seal. Navy seals are often made into temporary CIA operatives, so that they can go into situations and places where the US military cannot go officially.

[ableguy]

He obviously never did any one harm around the area. If he was CIA the American people involved in his arrest would have been given a quiet talking to well before to put it to bed.

Suppose he was like a mercenary group paid by many, if he was CIA and needed to get away in a safe manner this would have been the way for the CIA to get him away.

All exciting anyway.

Another conspiracy theorist how trying it is not to call these people BS artists,

[NamKangMan]

He obviously never did any one harm around the area. If he was CIA the American people involved in his arrest would have been given a quiet talking to well before to put it to bed.

Suppose he was like a mercenary group paid by many, if he was CIA and needed to get away in a safe manner this would have been the way for the CIA to get him away.

All exciting anyway.

Another conspiracy theorist how trying it is not to call these people BS artists,

Maybe a google of the name "Edward Snowden" will enlighten you as to who, and when, America wishes to call you what, and when, they want to.

Wake up.

Edited October 10, 2013 by NamKangMan

[marell]

US officials say Mr Hunter led a ring of former military snipers who killed people for money, and operated a drug network spanning much of Asia.

sounds like he was CIA

Right. And all the dodgy Russians around are KGB, all the Chinese tourists are MSS, and all the Brits having a beer over in the corner are MI6. Imagination is a wonderfully entertaining thing.

Boy have you got a lot of research to do! The government and agencies would never, never lie to people (like the CIA running all dope operatings in and out of afghanistan, as they did in Laos, along with tons of people getting whacked & set up throughout its history).

Sure, there are all kinds of nasty people running around doing all kinds of nasty things. But hard facts are hard facts and speculation is speculation. Very few people have access to hard facts but everyone has an unlimited capacity to speculate. And if you think these creepy people are hiding behind every closed door, then speculation is getting a little out of context.

Edited October 11, 2013 by marell

[MK1]

Always two sides to every story and in the way they quickly extradited Hunter, it will be highly unlikely if he will be ever able to tell his. What the American Government dislike so much is their retired personnel becoming freelance private contractors after they leave their organization. More than likely because the CIA would prefer to be in control of all contract hits around the world for the benefit of political purposes.

[Billmont]

My son is a sniper in an elite platoon in the British Army. Good to know he has a future in civistreet. Now I will have to hide when he is discharged I now regret being a strict father. 55555

[sirchai]

The pool cleaner said he would often exchange smiles with Mr Hunter, but the two never spoke.

Did the pool cleaner have a sniper smile?-

Edited October 11, 2013 by sirchai

[biplanebluey]

A lot of news about nothing. Same old same old. A small fish by all accounts, big deal

Yea but exciting eh?-------- but do not understand why they found it difficult to find his actual home------- just ask the pool man !!!