Chinese worker and Thais arrested in crackdown on human trafficking ring
A Chinese worker and three Thais were arrested in a crackdown on an alleged human trafficking ring in southern Thailand.
The Thai reportedly helped smuggle Chinese man Yang, 41, towards Malaysia after he was said to have illegally entered the country from Cambodia.
Yang was reportedly fleeing scam compound raids in neighbouring Cambodia before arranging to be taken to Malaysia through the southern Thai border.
But police foiled the suspected human smuggling scheme as they stepped up efforts to dismantle the trafficking ring.
Officers on October 4 intercepted two vehicles in Hat Yai district, Songkhla province.
One car was stopped along Asian Highway 2, where cops found two Thai women, both 35, with Yang allegedly hiding in the back seat.
He was reportedly travelling without a passport, while the women allegedly admitted they had been paid 10,000 baht to take him to a resort in Hat Yai.
Police then arrested Thai driver Songkran, 29, who was allegedly acting as a scout in a second vehicle. Investigators said he was responsible for monitoring the route and warning the other smugglers about police activity.
The three Thais were charged with jointly harbouring and assisting an illegal migrant to evade authorities, while the Chinese man was charged with entering and remaining in Thailand without permission.
All four suspects reportedly confessed to the charges and were handed over to police in Hat Yai for legal proceedings.
Immigration officials said the alleged trafficking network has been operating for some time and used organised tactics, including scout vehicles, to evade detection.
Police Colonel Charoenphong Khantilo, spokesman for Immigration Division 6, said: 'An expanded investigation has been ordered to identify and apprehend additional offenders. We will also coordinate with Chinese security authorities to check the backgrounds of the arrested Chinese nationals for any previous offences or outstanding warrants. If they are wanted in China, we will arrange for their swift repatriation.
'Members of the public with information or complaints about illegal activities involving foreign nationals can contact the Immigration Bureau hotline.'
The arrests were part of a wider crackdown on a human smuggling network allegedly moving Chinese nationals through Thailand after they fled scam compounds in Cambodia.
Crime gangs operate sprawling fraud and human trafficking networks across Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, with many bases hidden inside heavily guarded compounds in remote border areas.
The region forms the notorious Golden Triangle where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet around the Mekong River.
At the heart of the Golden Triangle lies the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), run by notorious Chinese business tycoon and suspected crime boss Zhao Wei in the Chinese vassal state Laos. Communist chiefs are said to turn a Nelsonian eye to his wrongdoing.
In 2007, Zhao brokered a deal with the Laos government and obtained a 99-year lease to build the zone on a 39-square mile patch of impoverished Bokeo province.
The Chinese businessman claims to be a benefactor as he touts the GTSEZ as a tourist and economic hub designed to bring more income and investments into the country.
But both local and international law enforcement agencies believe it is a front for organised crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, and call-centre scams.
International authorities have struggled to take down the gambling empire as the Laos government itself is said to be protecting the GTSEZ, in which it has a 20 per cent stake.
