Thai authorities have arrested and accused of 100 Thai nationals for their involvement in the scams of the Transnational Call Center operating in Cambodia, police announced yesterday.
Pol. General thatchai Pitanilabut, director of the police working group and the anti-human traffic center, told the press yesterday that the Criminal Tribunal had published arrest warrants on March 3 for 102 suspects, Khaosod English reported. This included 100 Thai nationals and two Chinese nationals who are the alleged leaders of the gang of scam.
The 100 Thai people were part of 1i9 which was detained last week in Piped, a Cambodian city on the border with the province of its Kaeo in Thailand, during a joint operation between the Thai and Cambodian police. The group, who had “fauf to work and remained illegally” in Cambodia, were expelled from Cambodia on March 1.
Khaosod said the suspects have been accused of exploitation of scams, including fraud in the negotiation of actions, Romanesque scams, games of chance and the identity of Thai government agencies. They face multiple accusations, in particular “participation in a transnational criminal organization, membership in a secret society, the conspiracy in order to commit fraud, the fraud of the public and the introduction of false data in computer systems”, which carry prison terms of up to 15 years.
“This is the first time that Thai suspects have faced serious charges for collaborating with foreign criminals in Cambodia,” said Thatchai. “From now on, Thai treats will no longer be able to exploit the victim victim of the victim of the trafficking of human beings to escape sanctions.”
The accusations come as Thailand increases its efforts to disturb the scam unions that arose along the borders of Thailand, in particular those with Myanmar and Cambodia, from the Pandemic COVID-19. These operations relied on legions of workers victims of trafficking to manage scams, most of which are attracted to job promises, then effectively imprisoned in fortified and forced compounds to manage scams that encourage people to transfer funds.
In the past two months, under a strong pressure from the Chinese government, which has been forced to act after the kidnapping of a well -known Chinese actor in early January, Thailand led a multinational repression against the scam centers that have emerged along its borders with Myanmar. He reduced electricity, internet and fuel supplies to border areas known to house scam operations, asked for arrest mandates against Myanmar -based militias and launched probes on local Thai police officials suspected of collusion with criminal unions.
In recent weeks, a multinational group of around 7,000 people would have been saved from scam centers around Myawaddy in Kayin (Karen) in Myanmar, most victims of human trafficking.
Since mid-February, the Thai government has started to focus on scam operations just through its eastern border in Cambodia, in particular in Poipet, a freewheeling town that has long bristled with low-level casinos.
Thai authorities have already suspended the mobile phones along the Cambodian border, which they believe were used by crooks. Then, last week, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra ordered the relevant agencies to study the idea of an erection of a wall on the Cambodian border to prevent illegal passages by the crime gangs, including online fraud unions.
Although the ultimate impact of these operations is not clear – the fact that the rescues of the workers of the Myawaddy scam were carried out with the help of the very groups that the militias facilitated them – the Thai government expressed its confidence that the repression has an effect. The Minister of the Digital Economy and the Company, Prasert Jatararungtong, said this week that the losses of the scams by calls had been reduced by half, going from around 100 million baht (around $ 3 million) per day to less than 50 million baht since the start of repression, reported the Bangkok Post.
The Minister said that before the end of the week, he would have discussions with banks, telecommunications operators and owners of media platforms, who, according to him, should now take active measures to protect customers from scams.