Three Rohingya smuggling suspects arrested, suffocated to death

Chumphon police arrested a suspect who smuggled Rohingya people and abandoned 26 people in the middle of a forest in Lang Suan District after 3 people died of suffocation and 10 others were seriously injured and barely breathing. At the Lang Suan Police Station in Chumphon Province this morning, forensic police and investigation teams interrogated and collected DNA from 16 Rohingya who were arrested near Wat Sekkharam, Wang Takao Subdistrict, Lang Suan District, Chumphon Province, for further questioning after three Rohingya bodies were found abandoned in the vicinity today, and 10 more Rohingya were seriously injured, gasping for air due to lack of oxygen. Officers took them to the hospital yesterday (October 17) and they are still under close medical care. Pol. Col. Chalat Phonlakan, Superintendent of Lang Suan Police Station, Chumphon Province, stated that initial investigations found that there were a total of 26 Rohingya traveling in the covered pickup truck. Officials have already arrested two Rohing ya truck drivers, who were Thai teenagers, according to arrest warrants from the Lang Suan Provincial Court while they were driving away in Phetchaburi Province. They are currently being detained for further questioning about where they received all the Rohingya from, and one person is still at large. However, it is initially known that all the Rohingya were picked up from Mae Sot District since October 14th. Along the way, there were two vehicle changes to deceive the police officers' inspections, with one leading vehicle to observe. When they arrived at the scene near Lang Suan Police Station, it was found that the Rohingya who were being transported in the truck were suffocating, so the driver decided to change his plan and leave them behind before driving away. As for whether the driver who abandoned all the Rohingya this time was connected to the previous human trafficking gang, the chief of the Lang Suan Police Station stated that additional time would be needed for the investigation. If he was connec ted to any group or gang, the investigation would be expanded and additional arrest warrants would be issued. The pickup trucks, which were modified into covered trucks, with Nong Khai and Bangkok license plates, were brought in for examination and additional DNA evidence collected at the Lang Suan Police Station. Source: Thai News Agency