Thai arrested over alleged smuggling of 12 illegal Laos migrants

Police have arrested an Ubon Ratchathani resident over the alleged smuggling of 12 illegal migrants from Laos in a pick-up truck on Friday night.

Authorities have stepped up patrols along Thailand’s northern and north eastern borders over recent weeks to stem the flow of illegal crossings into Thailand in the wake of the prostitutes and other Thai workers who were crossing back through the Thai/Myanmar border from the border town of Tachileik.

In this case, the undocumented Laos migrants were 5 men and 7 women.

Officers from the Thai Navy’s Mekong Patrol Operation Command arrested ‘Pranee’, a man from Ubon Ratchathani’s Sri Muang Mai district in North East Thailand, near a border checkpoint in Khong Chiam district, which shares a border with Laos along the Mekong River.

One of the migrants reportedly told officials that that the group had travelled from several cities in Laos’ Champasak province, and had paid an agency in Thailand 4,000 – 5,000 baht each for the transport to Bangkok to find work.

The male suspect and the migrant workers were taken to the Khong Chiam Police Station for further questioning.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand