DHAKA: Nearly 200 migrants have been detained in a single southern Thai province ever since a network of jungle prison camps run by people smugglers was uncovered there.

Police said Saturday, reports The Straits Times.

Spurred by Thai junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s calls to end the grim trade within 10 days, police have launched an operation against smugglers in Songkhla, a province neighboring Malaysia crisis-crossed by trafficking trails.

Observers say the belated move against gangs long known to have operated with the help of corrupt officials has put smugglers on the backfoot.

As a result scores of desperate Bangladeshi and Myanmar Rohingyas have been abandoned as their gangmasters go underground.

BDST: 1826 HRS, MAY 09, 2015
RR