Crackdown on human traffickers sees 19 arrests
The Metropolitan Police Bureau’s operation to crackdown on human traffickers has so far seen eight human-trafficking suspects and 11 people accused of harbouring street beggars arrested, city police deputy chief Pol Maj-General Sompong Chingduang told a press conference on Monday.
Search operations at targeted locations have been ongoing since August 15 and would continue until Friday, August 25, he said.
Sompong also vowed that city police would join efforts to find fugitive Prasert “Ko Lak” Sukkhee, 58, who is wanted for offences including human trafficking and procuring minors under 18 for the sex trade at Bangkok’s Nataree Entertainment massage parlour, which was busted last year.
Prasert’s name emerged again as the owner of a 10-room hotel in Nonthaburi that was found on Saturday night to be a front for a prostitution ring’s brothel operation. The discovery was made when Interior Ministry officials investigated noise complaints made by neighbours. An unnamed madam in her 40s and 22 sex workers aged over 20 were nabbed.
Sompong revealed that Prasert was believed to be lying low in the Thai border area and that the Anti-Money Laundering Office had already seized his assets in Bangkok. He said police would also check all of Prasert’s business premises to see if the venues were legal.