Tak: Security officials have arrested a man and seized a large quantity of computers, mobile phones and SIM cards linked to call-centre scammers in Mae Ramat district of this border western province.
A combined team of soldiers from the Ratchamanu Task Force and members of the border patrol police and administrative officials set up checkpoints in the Thai-Myanmar border areas of tambon Mae Ramat on Saturday.
They stopped a Toyota pickup truck for a search and found 1,251 mobile phones, 274 SIM cards and 19 computers inside. The driver -- identified by officers only as Tid, 45 -- said he was paid 5,000 baht to collect the items from a spot by the Moei River at Bann Nam Dib Bon Warn village in the district.
He was to send them via a private parcel delivery service to someone named only as Pawalee in Watthana Nakhon district of Sa Kaeo, a border province with Cambodia.
Col Natthakorn Ruantip, commander of the Ratchamanu Task Force supervising five of nine districts in Tak, said inquiries indicated the seized electronics belonged to a call-centre network based in Myawaddy, Myanmar, opposite Tak's Mae Sot district.
"They wanted to move their operation to the Cambodian side, opposite Sa Kaeo," Col Natthakorn said. The investigation is ongoing to identify other suspects who may be involved.
Tid was taken to Mae Ramat police station for further questioning.