Arrest Made In Fake Border-pass Racket

[george]

Arrest made in fake border-pass racket

SA KAEW: -- A Cambodian national suspected of being a key member of a criminal syndicate that produces fake travel documents was arrested yesterday while trying to enter Thailand through a checkpoint at Sa Kaew's Aranyaprathet district, a Thai immigration police officer said yesterday.

Pol Lt-General Subin Boonlek, deputy superintendent of Klong Leuk police station in Aranyaprathet, said Hamas Rumree had in his possession a fake rubber stamp bearing the engraved signature of Pol Major Pik Salon, head of Cambodia's Poipet immigration office.

Subin said authorities had verified that the stamp was counterfeit.

Police also found in the suspect's bag a list naming 12 of his Cambodian Muslim clients. Subin said it was not clear whether the suspect's illegal business catered specifically to Cambodian Muslims. However, evidence showed that Hamas charged his clients Bt2,500 to 5,000 per head.

Lieutenant Vichan Jittayanant, deputy inspector of the Klong Leuk station, said he would investigate whether there was a link between Muslims in Cambodia and the violence in southern Thailand.

Sub-Lieutenant Su Peah of the Poipet immigration office said he suspected Hamas was the head of a fake border-pass syndicate. According to Su, fake border passes have become widespread in the Thai-Cambodian border area. He added that Hamas would face a criminal charge in Cambodia.

Meanwhile, rangers in Sa Kaew's Klong Hat district arrested 11 Cambodians who had illegally entered Thailand in a pickup truck. Akradej Saenchaiharn, the Thai owner of the truck, confessed that he had been hired to take the Cambodians from Sa Kaew to Chachoengsao for Bt1,000 per head.

--The Nation 2005-10-16