Police intercept vehicle with 15 illegal migrants in Kanchanaburi
Officers in Kanchanaburi, led by Police Major General Pornchai Chaloradej, yesterday intercepted a suspicious vehicle loaded with sacks of dried cassava.
The officers discovered 15 illegal migrants concealed within the vehicle during the inspection at a checkpoint in Sangkhla Buri district.
Police yesterday, February 18, noticed a white Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck, registration number นข 3507 Phetchaburi, heavily laden with sacks, approaching from Sangkhla Buri.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Supakit Mahachokthoranee, deputy chief of provincial investigations, ordered the vehicle to stop for inspection.
The driver, a 34 year old stateless man identified as Akwa, claimed he was transporting dried cassava to a buyer. However, the vehicle’s unusually deflated rear tyres raised suspicion.
Upon inspection, officers found a metal frame beneath the sacks, concealing the migrants inside. Akwa was arrested, along with the 15 migrants—comprising 10 men and five women—who were asked to surrender.
Akwa admitted during preliminary questioning that he had been hired to transport the migrants from the radar hill area for 500 baht (US$15) per person but was apprehended en route to Chalae subdistrict, Thong Pha Phum district.
Following his confession, the vehicle was seized as evidence, and Akwa was handed over to Sangkhla Buri police for legal proceedings, reported KhaoSod.
Akwa faces charges of concealing, aiding, or assisting illegal migrants to evade arrest, while the 15 migrants are charged with entering and residing in Thailand illegally.
In similar news, police in Cha-am detained over 100 Myanmar migrant workers found crammed into the back of a six-wheeled truck.
The driver confessed to transporting the workers from Damnoen Saduak district to a destination in the south.
The incident occurred at 10am on February 14 when Police Major Chaiyachon Arunrojrangsi of the Cha-am Police Station was setting up a checkpoint on the southbound side of Phetkasem Road in Khao Yai subdistrict, Cha-am district, Phetchaburi province.
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