BANGKOK — Police Major General Choengron Rimpadee, Commander of Immigration Bureau 2, wrapped up his tenure with a significant bust, taking down a cross-border human smuggling operation that stretched from Myanmar to Malaysia, with Thailand serving as a transit corridor.
The investigation kicked off in mid-August when immigration officers at Don Mueang Airport spotted something suspicious about a passenger heading to Hat Yai. The man, identified as 47-year-old Bangladeshi national Zoid, was pulled aside for questioning before his southbound flight on August 12.
Under interrogation, Zoid’s story unraveled. He admitted to slipping into Thailand illegally through Myanmar’s porous jungle borders. His plan was simple but risky: traverse Thailand undetected and exit through another natural crossing into Malaysia, where his wife was waiting for him.
But Zoid wasn’t acting alone. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered an organized smuggling network. At its center was Firdaus, a Thai national who served as the operation’s local coordinator.
Working alongside a Bangladeshi contact known only as “M,” Firdaus had orchestrated Zoid’s entire journey—arranging his illegal border crossing, setting him up in a safe house on Ramkhamhaeng 24 Road in Bangkok, and even booking his domestic flight tickets.
Armed with evidence of human trafficking and harboring illegal immigrants, police secured an arrest warrant for Firdaus. The charges were serious: facilitating illegal entry into Thailand, providing shelter to undocumented migrants, and helping foreign nationals evade capture.
The warrant was executed on September 30, when Pol. Maj. Gen. Choengron’s team raided an apartment on Ramkhamhaeng 65 Road. Inside, they found Firdaus along with damning evidence—rental contracts for properties used as transit houses for smuggled migrants moving through Bangkok toward the Malaysian border.
The raid yielded an unexpected bonus. Officers discovered Joshua Win, a 40-year-old Myanmar national, hiding in the apartment. He told police he’d been working in Malaysia and was trying to return home to Myanmar. The smuggling network had placed him in the safe house temporarily, with plans to transport him to the border within days.
Both Firdaus and Joshua Win were taken into custody. Joshua Win was transferred to Hua Mak Police Station for processing on immigration violations, while authorities continue investigating the wider smuggling network and its connections across Southeast Asia.
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