Attempt Fails to Sneak 13 Afghanistan Men Through Suvarnabhumi Airport

July 8, 2012

Immigration police arrested two Thai men who were caught trying to smuggle a large group of Afghanistan men through Suvarnabhumi Airport. The men confessed to being part of a human trade organization with reported ties to the Taliban that had intended to transport the men to Australia.

BANGKOK – July 6, 2012 [PDN]; At the meeting room of the Division of Immigration 2, results of the arrests were presented in a joint report by airport Pol. Maj. Gen. Nutthorn Prausoonthorn, Commander Police Immigration 2; the detecting officers; the subduing police immigration 2; and the airport security officer.

The two Thai men, Mr. Somphop Pumlaojaeng, 46, and Mr. Chalermchai Nokyuage, 49, were arrested with the 13 Afghanistan men while standing in the domestic passenger building in Suvarnabhumi Airport.

On July 5 at 11 p.m., airport police and immigration officials working in the domestic passenger building noticed the 13 foreign standing with two Thai men at the exit doors, between door 1 and door 2. The large group seemed suspicious, so the officers together with the airport security officers approached them to inspect their passports. They found that the men’s passports had not been stamped by an officer from immigration, so the officers restrained all of them to investigate.

During the investigation, Mr. Somphop and Mr. Chalermchai confessed that both of them were contacted by a “Mr. Pae,” and Mr. Thongpul Haelah, to pick up the Afghanistan men, who had traveled from Kupta, Afghanistan. The two Thais were to help transport the men to a “Mrs. Ouan.” There was a car waiting to pick them up outside the airport, and in this group there were also reportedly Taliban soldiers, who traveled with SriLangkan Airlines, flight UL 422, and were planning to fly to Cambodia to avoid inspection by immigration officers.

When questioned, the Afghanistan men said they want to migrate to another country away from their homeland, and wanted to go to Australia. The men each had to pay 60,000 THB per person to enter and leave Thailand without passing Thai immigration. The two Thai men who were arrested got paid 1,000 THB per person each time they aided in the airport smuggling. They confessed that they had done the smuggling several times. Further investigation revealed that an employee of one company that worked in the airport was also part of the smuggling scheme. Officers were waiting for the arrest warrant to arrest any others involved in the operation.

Initially, the police believed that this was the behavior of the international human trade procession, so the police charged all the foreigners with entering and leaving the kingdom without permission from the officers, and being foreigners in Thailand without permission.

For Mr. Somphop and Mr. Chalermchai, the officers charged them with assisting illegal foreigners to escape detection by authorities. The police restrained all of the defendants to investigate further. The rest of the suspects will also be arrested and prosecuted according to the law.