Yesterday, September 3, immigration police, excise officials, and the 13th ranger task force collaborated to arrest a group involved in the illegal cigarette trade near the border in Khlong Hat district, Sa Kaeo province.
The operation followed complaints from locals at Baan Khao Din market about suspicious activities involving untaxed cigarettes. The police conducted a sting operation, which led them to several suspicious vehicles near the market, where they discovered a large quantity of illegal cigarettes. Four people were apprehended along with four vehicles.
Further investigation revealed that all people arrested were Cambodian. During the search, officials discovered over 7 million baht (US$216,675) in cash hidden within a spare tyre of one vehicle.
One suspect confessed that the cash belonged to relatives who asked them to take it back to Cambodia due to distrust in banks and fear of potential conflict. However, police remain sceptical of this explanation, suspecting a connection to the wider illegal cigarette trade prevalent along the border.
The police seized all evidence and brought the suspects, along with the cash, to the Khlong Hat Police Station for further investigation and legal proceedings, reported KhaoSod.
In similar news, on August 10, soldiers from the Burapha Task Force, working with excise officials, seized over 13,000 packs of untaxed foreign cigarettes hidden in a sugarcane plantation near the Thai-Cambodian border in Sa Kaeo province.
The joint operation, involving the Burapha Task Force, the Aranyaprathet Special Task Unit, and the 1204th Ranger Company, began at around 12.30am during a routine border patrol.
Officers discovered 15 sacks concealed about 10 metres from the Khong Nam Sai canal, which marks part of the border, in Ban Non Khilek, Phansuk subdistrict, Aranyaprathet district.
Police uncovered a large haul of untaxed foreign cigarettes, including 4,500 large Mond packs, 830 small Mond packs, 770 large Capital packs, and 6,990 small Oris packs, totalling 13,090 packs.
The story Cambodian smugglers caught with illegal cigarettes in Sa Kaeo as seen on Thaiger News.
