42,000 illegal migrants caught this year

More than 42,400 migrants have been arrested for entering the country illegally so far this year, police said.

Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, the deputy national police chief, said his investigation team has carried out operations to clamp down on illegal migrant workers and their employers, as well as inspecting workplaces and campsites.

From Dec 29 last year up until Wednesday of last week, police arrested 42,443 migrant workers, 293 smugglers and 841 suspects who provided them with shelter.

Police raided 221 migrant smuggling networks and made 154 arrests. They also apprehended 402 ringleaders of said networks and arrested 1,769 migrant workers while seized 312 items including 182 vehicles and numerous bank books.

The police are currently looking into another 67 migrant smuggling networks, he said.

Employers found to be complicit in these cases can be fined up…