Hunt on for 41 absconding suspects in trafficking case
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ARREST warrants have been issued for 62 suspects accused of running or benefiting from the trafficking of Rohinya and Bangladeshis in the southern provinces, as part of a government crackdown on the illicit business, a senior area police officer said.
Twenty-one of the suspects are in police custody, including former and current members of local administrative bodies. Police are still hunting for Pajjuban Angchotephan, a former chairman of the Satun Provincial Administrative Organisation, who has reportedly fled to Malaysia, Pol Maj-General Phutthichart Ekkachant, a deputy commission of Provincial Police Region 8, said.
Like local police in the South, civilian and military authorities based in Songkhla, Ranong, Satun are conducting a complete scrutiny of trafficking activities or relevant crimes along with detention camps to meet the 10-day deadline given last Wednesday by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. He has threatened to use the draconian Article 44 of the interim charter to tackle the problem if they failed to meet the deadline.
The officer said the arrest of three other key suspects – Padang Besar municipality mayor Banjong Pongphol, deputy mayor Praset Lermleh, and fishery businessman Suwan Saengthong – were important to the police investigation. Region 8 headquarters will submit a post-deadline report to Royal Thai Police commissioner-general General Somyot Poompanmoung, who will then forward it to Prayut.
Region 9 commissioner Pol Lt-General Montree Patranant said Malaysian intelligence police would meet with their Thai counterparts in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district tomorrow to discuss the human trafficking issue and exchange information on the crime.
A police source said that it was likely that Pajjuban, an alias of Ko Tong, the former Satun PAO chairman, would turn himself in, as he was ageing. Ko Tong is likely discussing legal options with his lawyer and will finally give himself up, the source added.
