Thai police intercept seven Chinese nationals en route to Myanmar scam compound
Thai police intercepted seven Chinese nationals allegedly travelling through Thailand to work at a scam compound in Myanmar’s Karen State.
Thai police have arrested nine people after intercepting seven Chinese nationals who allegedly entered Thailand illegally and were being transported towards a scam compound in Myanmar’s Karen State.
The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and Highway Police Division arrested two Thai drivers and the seven Chinese nationals on Highway 344 at kilometre marker 2 on the Bangkok-bound side in Ban Suan subdistrict, Mueang Chonburi district, Chonburi.
Officers seized two cars, 14 mobile phones and four damaged passports.
The two Thai suspects were charged with jointly assisting, harbouring or otherwise helping foreign nationals who had entered Thailand illegally to evade arrest.
The seven Chinese nationals were charged with entering and remaining in Thailand without permission.
Suspicious vehicles stopped under Ghost Driver operation
The arrests followed surveillance by Chonburi highway police under Operation Ghost Driver, which targets vehicles suspected of involvement in illegal cross-border transport.
Officers identified two suspicious vehicles: a black Toyota Corolla driven by a Thai man identified only as Mr O, and a black Toyota Wish driven by another Thai man identified only as Mr W.
A search of the vehicles found seven Chinese nationals who were unable to produce valid passports or other identification documents.
According to police, the two Thai drivers admitted that they had been hired to collect the group in Makham district, Chanthaburi, and take them to Bangkok. Each driver was allegedly promised 10,000 baht.
Group allegedly headed for Karen State
The seven Chinese nationals told investigators that they had travelled from Vietnam through Cambodia before entering Thailand on foot through an unofficial natural border crossing in Pong Nam Ron district, Chanthaburi.
Their intended destination was Karen State in Myanmar, where they allegedly planned to work at a scam operation.
Further checks found that one member of the group was wanted under an arrest warrant issued by Chinese authorities in connection with a telecommunications fraud case.
Police said all nine suspects admitted the allegations against them. They were transferred to investigators at Mueang Chonburi Police Station for further legal proceedings.
