Eight arrested for smuggling 66 illegal immigrants to Bangkok

Eight arrested for smuggling 66 illegal immigrants to Bangkok

Eight people were arrested as they attempted to smuggle 66 illegal Cambodian migrants into the country on Friday.

Pol Col Worapong Thongpaiboon, deputy commander of the Anti-Human Trafficking Division, said yesterday the suspects were apprehended while transporting the migrants on road No 304 in Bang Khla district of Chachoengsao province on Friday night.

Two of the suspects were identified as Prasong Prahawat and Sirichet Sakulwongpanich. The names of the other six were not disclosed.

The 66 Cambodians were also detained following the operation.

Pol Col Worapong said officials had obtained intelligence that road No 304 was being used by people smugglers.

Police stopped pickup trucks driven by Mr Prasong and Mr Sirichet and found more than 20 Cambodians crammed inside the two vehicles.

A list of collection and drop-off points seized from the suspects then led to the arrest of the other six suspected smugglers and the discovery of the remaining migrants.

One of the migrants, identified only as Shao, told police that he and the other Cambodians had each paid 2,000 baht to the drivers. They were due to be dropped off in Bangkok, he said, adding that none of them had passports.

The suspects allegedly told police that a smuggling gang was paying them 300 baht per migrant to transport them to their destination.

The migrants entered the country on the border in Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district and were being taken to Bangkok through Chachoengsao.

The Cambodians were to be dropped off in Bangkok’s Prawet district where taxis would transfer them to various construction sites, Pol Col Worapong said.

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