Thai police arrest mayor over human trafficking

Thai police today arrested the mayor of Padang Besar, southern border sub district, alleging he was the key player of human-trafficking ring and detention camps where graves of Rohingya muslim were found, reports phuketwan.com.

Mayor Banyong Pongpon turned himself in to police on Friday, said deputy police chief Aek Angsananont.

Police also arrested Supoj Muensew, an alleged hitman of the gang for involvement in two murders in Satun province and Tambon Padang Besar in Songkhla's Sadao district.

National police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpunmuang said the alleged hitman received orders to kill anyone obstructing human trafficking from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Police have identified 36 suspects involved in human trafficking in Thailand and Malaysia.

Since discovery of bodies in Pedang Besar camp, near Malaysian border, a total of 31 bodies have been recovered from the jungle.

The bodies are believed to belong to Rohingya and Bangladeshi boatpeople who died of hunger or disease or were hacked to death by the traffickers.

One survivor, Anuzar, 28, said eight brokers controlled one camp where he and up to 1000 others were held.

''Most of us have been beaten or abused,'' said Anuzar, who was held for nine months. ''In the camp, we never got enough food or water.''

He is now kept in a secret location as a prime witness against traffickers in Thailand.

Another person with knowledge of the trade of human trafficking says as many as 80 percent of the camps are in jungle on the Malaysian side of the border.

Searches at abandoned camps at Andaman holiday coast uncovered three bodies earlier this week, including one woman believed to be pregnant when she died.

Authorities believe the boatpeople all arrived in Thailand and were secretly kept in open pens in some 45 mangrove-covered Andaman Islands before being transferred to the southern jungles.