Man Arrested After Allegedly Selling Burmese Migrants into Slavery

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Burmese human trafficking victims are seen last year in Thailand’s Chonburi Province after Thai authorities rescued them from a fishing boat they were forced to work on. Over the weekend, Thai police said they had arrested and charged a suspected human trafficker who allegedly sold hundreds of migrants from Burma into slavery to work in Thailand’s fishing industry. (Photo: Kyaw Thaung)

BANGKOK — Thai authorities have arrested and charged a suspected human trafficker who allegedly sold hundreds of migrants from Burma into slavery to work in Thailand’s fishing industry, police said Saturday.

Ko Myo, a 42-year-old Burma national, was captured in a raid by police and justice officials on Aug. 1 in Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani and faces human trafficking charges, said Police Maj. Gen. Chavalit Sawangpuech.

“This is a very significant case as Ko Myo is the leader of one of most notorious human trafficking rings in Thailand,†Chavalit said. “He is an agent with a large client base, who has abused his own countrymen on Thai soil for 10 years.â€

Ko Myo is being held in custody at a hospital after sustaining gunshot wounds during the raid.

Chavalit said police were also investigating his alleged involvement in the rape and killing of a Burmese woman in March in Thailand’s Trang province, on the Andaman coast.

Three of Ko Myo’s close aides were arrested in separate raids. All three face human trafficking charges, while two were also charged with rape and murder of the same Burmese woman.

Chavalit said Thai police would reach out to their counterparts in Burma to try to arrest more human trafficking suspects.

The London-based Environmental Justice Foundation said in a statement Friday that it welcomed the capture of the suspects and called for parties “to work together to prevent human trafficking in Thai seafood production and bring an end to this devastating practice.â€

Source: Irrawaddy.org