TAK - Highway police arrested three Chinese men and a Thai man with about 2,000 new SIM cards on Highway 12 (Sukhothai-Tak) in tambon Nam Ruem of Muang district on Monday morning.
Highway police commander Pol Maj Gen Kongkrit Lertsitthikul identified the Thai suspect as Narong Sunanta, 53, and the three Chinese men as Hai Yang, 25, Zhen Yong Liang, 31, and Lin Zhen, 31.
The group was travelling in a silver Toyota Altis car when police stopped it for a search. The Thai man was driving.
The visitors had no ID documents but they had about 2,000 brand-new SIM cards and five mobile phones. They were suspected of being involved in a call scam gang and were thus detained for investigation, Pol Maj Gen Kongkrit said.
Mr Narong told police that he picked up the Chinese men at a hotel in Sukhothai province and were transporting them to Mae Sot district of Tak. He said he had transported Chinese people to the border district of Mae Sot several times and received 3,000 baht per trip.
The three Chinese men said they had arrived from Cambodia and stayed at a hotel near Suvarnabhumi airport before heading for Tak. They said that they planned to board another vehicle from Mae Sot district to Myanmar.
The three told police that the SIM cards belonged to a friend, Pol Maj Gen Kongkrit said.