SONGKHLA: A woman alleged to be the leader of a major network smuggling Myanmar workers to Malaysia through Thailand has been arrested by immigration police.
Pol Col Denchai Charoenyut, chief investigator of immigration division 6, said the 53-year-old woman, identified only as Ms Palinee, alias Che Mai, was arrested on Tuesday at her home in Nonthaburi province.
Ms Palinee was the manager of a transport company in Sa Kaew province. She allegedly coordinated the smuggling of Myanmar workers to Malaysia with brokers on the Thai-Myanmar and Thai-Malaysian borders, and the transport of the illegal migrants.
She was allegedly involved in at least seven labour smuggling cases. Arrest warrants had been issued for 13 alleged members of the network responsible for transport and accommodation in the southern provinces of Surat Thani, Songkhla, Pattani and Yala.
Some of them had been arrested. They included Mr Mapaosi, 43, and Mr Jessada, 28, who were close to Ms Palinee.
Police checked her bank accounts and found she had as much as 21 million baht in circulation in the past six months.
Pol Col Denchai said Ms Palinee had earlier run a transport company in Sa Kaew province. The company delivered imported goods from the border with Cambodia to inner provinces and operated a passenger service from the Cambodian border to the South.
When the border was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company's operations were affected. She turned to the smuggling of labour, coordinating the transport of Myanmar people who had illegally crossed into Thailand, from Prachuap Khiri Khan province to the South, and on into Malaysia.
The illegal migrants were charged 17,500 baht each, of which 4,000 baht was for transport from Prachuap Khiri Khan to Songkhla, 1,500 baht for food and accommodation, 2,500 baht for transport to Narathiwat and 8,000 baht to be taken across the border into Malaysia.
Ms Palinee was initially charged with providing shelter and assistance to foreigners who had entered the country illegally.
She was due to appear in Na Thawi District Court in Songkhla, where police would apply to detain her for another 12 days.
