SONGKHLA: Thailand police foiled a human trafficking syndicate’s operation when they rescued 38 Myanmar nationals in a raid at Patong, Hatyai.
Director of the Royal Thai Police’s Centre for Children, Women, Family Protection, and Anti-Trafficking in Persons Police General Suchat Theerasawat said all the victims including a woman was locked up in a rented house and were believed to be smuggled into Malaysia.
Prior to that, he added that police arrested a local man who was also a van driver who brought the victims from Songkhla to Pattani at 12 noon yesterday.
“Investigations led to the discovery of the victims’ lock-up location.
“When the police team arrived at the location, all the victims were in a state of being squeezed to each other, congested, weak and hungry. The victims also claimed they were locked up for three days without food.
“Police are hunting down the mastermind of the human trafficking syndicate,” he said in a statement here today.
Suchat said all victims had paid 20,000 baht (about RM2657) to be brought into Malaysia from Myanmar.
“The victims are believed to have been brought from Hatyai to Pattani, and then to Sungai Golok before entering the Malaysian border,” he said, adding all victims were brought to Thung Lung police station for further investigations. — Bernama
