Four more Thais working for a scam gang linked to a family tragedy in Samut Prakan have been arrested in Poipet and returned to Thailand for legal proceedings.
Cambodian immigration officers contacted Thai officials on Monday evening, advising that they were deporting the four Thais, one man and three women, through the Poipet-Aranyaprathet checkpoint, Pol Col Rung Thongmon, chief of Sa Kaeo immigration police, said on Tuesday morning.
The suspects were arrested in Cambodia during a crackdown on phone scammers based there, part of a joint operation with Thai authorities.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said earlier the gang was responsible for a family tragedy in Samut Prakan, when a man killed his wife and two sons at their home in Bang Phli district on Aug 28. The man, devastated after his wife fell victim to the gang and ran up a huge debt, tried unsuccessfully to take his own life.
Pol Col Rung said Cambodian authorities also arrested another Thai man on charges of illegal entry and he was also deported to Thailand.
On Monday evening, Aranyaprathet district chief Chakkrapong Phanchot, immigration officers, local police and soldiers waited at the Thai-Cambodian friendship bridge and took all five suspects into custody as they returned, Pol Col Rung said.
The five were taken to the Aranyaprathet immigration checkpoint office for legal proceedings.
Immigration officers and district officials, led by Aranyaprathet district chief Chakkrapong Phanchot, centre, question the four scammers (right) after they were handed over by Cambodian authorities. (Photo: Aranyaprathet district office)
The four alleged scammers were wanted on arrest warrants issued by the Samut Prakan Provincial Court for fraud, putting false information in a computer system and transnational crime. During questioning, the suspects admitted they were the people named in the warrants, Pol Col Rung said. They were delivered to Bang Phli police for legal action, he said.
The Aranyaprathet district office Facebook page identified the male scam suspect as Suphon Wongwian and the women as Kanokporn Kraisuk, Nisarat Sukkasem and Kornkanok Singthit. The four owned mule bank accounts used by the scam gang linked to the Samut Prakan deaths.
The fifth deportee, arrested for illegally entering Cambodia, was fined and later released. Police said he was not involved in any criminal cases.