Alleged trafficker accused of luring fishing boat workers
A Myanmar man wanted since September for allegedly luring compatriots to work on fishing trawlers has been captured in Tambon Kuan Lang in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district.
Police Anti-Trafficking in Persons division commander Pol Maj-General Kornchai Khlaikhlueng announced the arrest in Bangkok yesterday.
The suspect, who is referred to only as Ne Lin, 30, was charged with conspiring in human trafficking, which is punishable by six to 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of Bt300,000. He allegedly has confessed to trafficking undocumented Myanmar workers to the deep South for payments of Bt500 to Bt3,000 per person.
The case originated with a report by the Vessel Traffic Control and Maritime Security Centre delivered to Sri Racha Marine Police on April 9, 2015 stating that a ship transporting petroleum had rescued two Myanmar men from the ocean.
The men said they had been lured from Koh Song with a promise of jobs in Thailand, only to be detained in a Hat Yai townhouse and in the house of Tae-tae U-Teng U, a Myanmar woman of ethnic Mon origin, in Pattani before Ne Lin took them to work on a fishing trawler.
They added that they were frequently assaulted and forced to work on a trawler without pay starting on March 16 until they escaped on April 7.
In August 2015, police arrested Tae-tae U-Teng U, 30, and an accomplice identified only as Idna, 32, and rescued seven more Myanmar workers, Kornchai said.
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