Thai police crackdown on border call centre gangs
Operation Aranyaprathet 68 SEAL BORDER aims to dismantle a network of call centre gangs and online fraudsters, rescuing a tortured Chinese interpreter and preventing mule accounts from being smuggled across the border.
Yesterday, February 1, Police Lieutenant General Yingyot Thepchamnong, Commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 2, unveiled progress in this operation, which has been monitoring the Thai-Cambodian border near Aranyaprathet district since January 6.
In recent efforts, several offenders were arrested, including a Cambodian man caught smuggling a large number of mobile phones across the border. The operation also rescued a Chinese interpreter who had been tortured, as well as Thai nationals who were taken through natural border channels to undergo facial scanning for mule accounts and were detained in Poipet.
Additionally, undercover officers posing as website administrators helped to identify and capture those involved in smuggling activities through the natural border routes at a location known as Je M. – Ta T.
The investigation revealed that these smugglers charged 7,000 baht (US$207) per person to facilitate border crossings. The call centre gangs were found to have secret routes to bring mule accounts and administrators to work for Chinese bosses.
The commissioner reported that Chinese nationals have been entering Thailand through natural channels at Ta Phraya and Aranyaprathet in Sa Kaeo province, intending to work as call centre employees in Myanmar after crossing another border.
Call centre
Police Region 2’s operation uncovered a case involving a mule account holder who sought help after being detained in a Poipet call centre office. After coordinating with Poipet officials, they managed to rescue her.
Detailed investigations revealed information about facial scanning mule account offices and secret routes used by the smuggling gangs.
Police Major General Thirachai Chamnanmor, Director of the Investigation Division of Provincial Police Region 2, added that a young woman from Bangkok was lured into renting her bank account for gambling websites, claiming that the work was in the Rong Kluea Market on the Thai side. A group came to collect her from Bangkok, taking her to open a bank account in a prominent shopping centre in Lat Phrao before moving her to Sa Kaeo province.
Once she accepted the job, she was smuggled across the border through a natural channel near another shopping centre.
The investigation revealed a complex network involving Cambodians picking up recruits and delivering them to Indian handlers in Poipet. Upon reaching the other side, recruits were taken to waiting offices, registered for cryptocurrency accounts, and subjected to facial scanning, often being detained afterwards.
If their accounts were linked to fraudulent activities and subsequently blocked, they were detained until they sought assistance. This particular mule account holder only received 10,000 baht (US$295) for opening four accounts.
Further investigations uncovered another network smuggling office workers under the guise of being gambling website administrators. The undercover team, Burapa 491, along with police investigators, identified a secret point near a shopping mall in Aranyaprathet, where a car would transport recruits through military checkpoints to the homes of Je M. and Ta T., who facilitated natural border crossings for a fee of 7,000 baht per person.
The operation led to the arrest of all involved, including Je M. and Ta T., who were documented for further investigation. A Thai man from Aranyaprathet admitted to being hired by Cambodians to transport people across the border for 50 baht (US$1.5) per person.
The Investigation Division is expanding the probe to identify more details and individuals linked to this operation, reported KhaoSod.
Provincial Police Region 2 vows to continue this operation in collaboration with all relevant agencies, aiming to apprehend those involved and hinder any activities facilitating illegal border crossings for call centres and gambling websites.
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