Bangkok - Thai authorities arrested three alleged drug dealers linked to the late Khun Sa, one-time kingpin of the infamous Golden Triangle, and seized 117 million baht (3.25 million dollars) of their assets, officials said Friday.

Thai Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga told a press conference that the three suspects, identified as Peerayuth Patsakon, Charnnarong Muser and Vicharn Suthipan, had been arrested by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) officers on Thursday.

Peerayuth confessed to selling 750 kilograms of heroin and methamphetamines since last year, but the other two suspects denied the charges, the Bangkok Post reported.

The US Drug Enforcement Administration requested the DSI to arrest the alleged drug dealers, who have been linked to the once dominant drug network of Khun Sa, or Chang Chi-fu, who died under house arrest in Yangon, Myamar, on October 26, 2007.

Charnnarong, a relative of Khun Sa, was arrested in the US for smuggling heroin and was recently released.

Khun Sa, the legendary drug warlord of the opium-growing Golden Triangle where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, used his Shan United Army to dominate the region's heroin trade in the 1980s and 90s before his surrender to Myanmar forces in January 1996.

In 1989, Khun Sa was charged in New York for attempting to import 1,000 tons of heroin into the US. (dpa)