Sweeps by bureau net 7 ‘foreign criminals’

The Immigration Bureau yesterday announced the arrest of seven foreigners from China, Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Korea in a recent sweep.

Five foreign nationals — Mahmoud, 24, Ahmad Yousif, 31, and Mina, from Egypt; Teva Nantham, 44, from Sri Lanka; and Karut, 53, from Pakistan — were arrested for immigration offences.

They were found to have been blacklisted by the bureau and deported from the country for committing various criminal activities, but returned using different passports under different names through a natural border, said bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Sompong Chingduang.

“When they were arrested, we ran checks on their passports,” he said. “Their biometric information showed that they have been blacklisted from entering the country.”

Pol Lt Gen Sompong said that the five have been charged with breaking the Immigration Act.

The bureau chief also said that a Chinese national, identified only as Ying, had been arrested. The man is said to have fled to Thailand on March 28, after robbing a casino in Laos.

Pol Lt Gen Sompong said that Mr Ying and 22 other Chinese nationals posed as police officers and raided a casino in Laos — claiming that they were acting on tips that Chinese fugitives were hiding in the casino.

Mr Ying and his accomplice stole computers, mobile phones and cash totalling about 3 million Chinese yuan (about 13 million baht).

Police said that after the robbery, Mr Ying travelled to Thailand and stayed in a rented house on King Kaeo Road in Samut Prakan, where he was apprehended.

“His visa has been revoked,” said Pol Lt Gen Sompong.

The bureau also announced the arrest of South Korean national Jeong Hwan, 29, who was wanted on an arrest warrant issued by a court in Seoul for opening an illegal betting website.

“He fled South Korea and went into hiding in a rented house in Chon Buri,” the Immigration Bureau chief said.