BANGKOK, March 29 (Bernama): Thailand police have cracked down on the largest call centre for online scammers and arrested 63 individuals after a series of operations in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern provinces of Thailand, on Thursday, the cops announced.
Pol Lt Gen Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, Assistant Police Commander, who has been assigned to integrate forces into the operation, said that proactive investigations conducted by the police in collaboration with the Office of The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) uncovered the movements of the call centre group in the province.
He said the first location is a hotel in Chandi Subdistrict, Chawang District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, and the other two locations are houses in Chawang District.
"The investigation is expanded to warehouses selling second-hand Japanese products in the area of Na Bon District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, where suspects and a large number of evidence were found.
"The investigation also found a connection that the place was being used as the base for an international call centre syndicate. As a result, 63 suspects were arrested, with 12 of Thai nationality and 51 of other nationalities,” he told a press conference here today.
He added police also seized items including 223 computers, mobile phones, 1,300 mule SIM cards, 312 signal distribution routers, and 80 bank account books.
Thatchai said the initial investigation revealed the presence of a transnational criminal syndicate that had established its base in the southern province.
"This gang is considered a large-scale criminal organisation. This time, the Chinese and Japanese police attaché joined in investigating wrongdoing in order to lead to further expansion of wrongdoing in China and Japan," he said.
Nakhon Si Thammarat is about 610 km south of Bangkok. - Bernama
