Thai police foiled a human trafficking syndicate’s operation when they rescued 38 Myanmar nationals in a raid at Patong, Hatyai.

Royal Thai Police Centre for Children, Women, Family Protection, and Anti-Trafficking in Persons director Suchat Theerasawat said all the victims, including a woman, were locked up in a rented house. All are believed to be bound for Malaysia.

Earlier, Theerasawat said that police arrested a local van driver who brought the victims from Songkhla to Pattani at 12pm yesterday.

“Investigations led to the discovery of the victims' lockup location.

“When the police team arrived at the location, all the victims were squeezed against each other, congested, weak and hungry. The victims also claimed they were locked up for three days without food.

“Police are hunting down the mastermind of the human trafficking syndicate,” he said in a statement here today.

Suchat said all victims had paid 20,000 baht (RM2,657) to be brought into Malaysia from Myanmar.

“The victims are believed to have been brought from Hatyai to Pattani, and then to Sungai Golok before they would cross the Malaysian border,” he said, adding all victims were brought to the Thung Lung police station for further investigation.

- Bernama