Bribery 'greases trafficking wheels'

Bribery 'greases trafficking wheels'

KANCHANABURI — A Myanmar man arrested for smuggling Myanmar migrant workers into Thailand accused officials at the Ban Pu Nam Ron-Htee Ki border checkpoint and many local policemen of taking bribe money from his gang.

Soldiers speak to Mr Win, an alleged member of a migrant trafficking gang. (Photo by Piyarach Choncharoen)

The man identified only as Win was driving a Kanchanaburi-registered pickup truck loaded with travel bags on a main road in Muang district, about 4 km from the checkpoint, when he was pulled over at a military road stop erected to curb human trafficking and to crack down on cross-border visa runs.  

Soldiers examined Mr Win’s documents and found his passport had no stamp. But he showed documentation issued by immigration police at the Ban Pu Nam Ron checkpoint which approved his entry and exit from the country.    

Mr Win allegedly confessed to paying money to immigration police at the checkpoint and local police so he could smuggle 40 to 50 migrant workers from Myanmar into Thailand or from Thailand to Myanmar every day.

Mr Win, who claimed to be a member of the Karen National Union, said he entered and crossed the border at lease two times each day. 

He claimed he paid all police kiosks along the main road from the checkpoint to the province’s municipality 1,000 baht each per trip plus 6,000 baht a month to use improperly licensed vehicles. He bribed three police investigative units and border patrol police in Kanchanaburi’s Sai Yok district. A local administrative office also was offered 2,000 baht for each trip, he said.  

“Each migrant has to pay immigration police 3,200 baht each to obtain a border pass which allows them to stay in Thailand for seven days,” Mr Win said. 

“After the seven days, I bring the migrants’ border passes to the authorities who rubber stamp them to show that the alien workers have returned to Myanmar despite the fact that they are still in Thailand.”  

He accused the immigration officials of exploiting the so-called non-Thai identification cards issued for migrant workers under the junta’s migrant labour policies. 

Maj Gen Nat Intharacharoen, commander of the 9th Infantry Division, said soldiers and provincial authorities are collecting evidence to identify more people involved in the gang and verify Mr Win’s allegations.

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