Deputy police chief Aek Angsananont said yesterday that he contacted Malaysian police to capture former Satun provincial administration organisation president Pajjuban Angchotiphan and his accomplices who had escaped to the Malaysian resort island. Police already have forwarded evidence in the southern people-smuggling case to authorities there, he said.
Pol Gen Aek said that Mr Pajjuban was there with followers including a man named known as Malay Todin.
Mr Pajjuban, often referred to as Ko Tong, is one of more than 50 suspects wanted for trafficking of Rohingya Muslim and Bangladeshi migrants. He fled to Langkawi, adjacent to the southern Thai border, together with his alleged right-hand man, Malay, who was the president of the Puyu tambon administration organisation in Muang Satun district.
Ironically, three boats carrying more than 1,000 Rohingya and Bengali migrants landed on Langkawi over the weekend.
Authorities alleged that two days before his arrest warrant was issued, Mr Pajjuban and Malay withdrew cash and gold ornaments worth hundreds of millions of baht from banks in Satun to thwart expected asset seizures. They also authorised relatives to make withdrawals on their behalf.
Sources said Mr Pajjuban offered to surrender with family members and local administrators accused of being cohorts in the trafficking ring if they could be released on bail. But Pol Gen Aek rejected the conditional offer.
Satun is one of three southern provinces where authorities have intensified their crackdown on human trafficking, along with Songkhla and Ranong.
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