Nine Afghans detained for illegal entry with Thai smugglers
In Songkhla, nine Afghan nationals caught illegally in the country, along with three Thai individuals suspected of smuggling, were detained in two separate incidents yesterday, February 22.
Immigration officers, police from Provincial Police Region 9, and Tourist Police intercepted a pickup truck in Hat Yai district, Songkhla, near a garbage dump in tambon Khuan Luang.
The vehicle, bearing Narathiwat licence plates, was stopped yesterday morning. Two Thais, 34 year old driver Waenasueree Arwae and 31 year old Nuraseela Jorloh, were taken into custody, along with four Afghan migrants found in the vehicle’s bed. They were all transported to Hat Yai police station.
In a separate occurrence on the same day, another police team detained 41 year old Thai man, Nimae Maerorgaki, and five Afghan migrants. Their car was stopped at the Morkaeng road checkpoint in Nong Chik district, Pattani. They were all taken to the Nong Chik Police Station.
The three Thai men face charges of conspiring to shelter illegal migrants and assisting them in evading arrest. The drivers disclosed that a Malaysian individual had hired them to transport the migrants from Songkhla to Sungai Kolok, a border district in Narathiwat, for a fee of 3,000 baht per person.
The investigation revealed that the nine Afghan migrants entered Thailand from Cambodia through a natural border crossing in Sa Kaeo. They reported paying brokers 120,000 baht each for job arrangements and transportation to Malaysia. All men remain in police custody pending legal proceedings, reported Bangkok Post.
In similar news, 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.
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.
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