A 42-year-old Russian, who went missing for two days in Phuket, was found murdered in a cannabis plantation at a house in Mueang district yesterday.

Artur Mkhitarian’s throat had been cut and there were signs of a struggle at the scene. Police went to the house after being alerted by Burin (surname withheld), the owner of a car rental business, about the victim’s disappearance.

Burin told police that the victim had rented his car and he had been asked by the victim’s Thai girlfriend to help locate the victim via the car’s GPS. Burin went to the house indicated on the GPS and found the door locked from the inside, so he asked the police to check it.

Police forced their way in and found the victim’s body with his throat cut and multiple knife wounds on his body. The initial estimation was that he had been dead for at least 12 hours.

Police will contact the Russian Embassy for more information about the victim, but they say that the Russian entered Thailand in January and his visa was due to expire in late April.

He and his girlfriend initially ran a tour business together, but later changed to cultivating cannabis.