Thai authorities said on Saturday that 151 Thai nationals involved in online gambling and fraud in Myanmar were repatriated via the Mae Sai border in Chiang Rai.
The 74 men and 77 women were among the 151 people who were repatriated, according to Thai news reports.
Thai police are working with Myanmar’s military council to crack down on transnational crime networks.
The repatriated individuals are being investigated to distinguish between those who voluntarily participated in the crime and those who were trafficked, said Thai police chief Maj-Gen Thatchai. “We have detailed records of individuals involved in the crime networks,” he said. “Some criminals often pretend to be victims of human trafficking to get away with it,” he added. The cyber police and relevant departments are conducting detailed investigations and all those involved in the crime will be prosecuted.
According to the United Nations, Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, is becoming a hotbed for telecom and other online fraud and criminal activities, with criminal gangs trafficking millions of people and forcing them to work in fraud and other illegal activities.
