Two key members of a transnational human trafficking syndicate implicated in a Rohingya smuggling case in 2019 have been extradited from South Korea to Thailand.
According to Pol Maj Nagorn Promma, the Thai police liaison to South Korea, Nikom Numprom was apprehended in June in Naju City, Jeollanam-do province. Tanawat Chokamlang was arrested this month in Icheon City, Gyeonggi province, and extradited to Thailand last week.
Both individuals had warrants issued for their arrest by the Nakhon Pathom Provincial Court in 2019, with an Interpol Red Notice issued on May 22 for human trafficking charges. Nikom and Tanawat were leaders of the human trafficking syndicate involved in the Rohingya smuggling case within the Nakhon Pathom Provincial Station’s jurisdiction in 2019.
According to Pol Maj Nagorn, Rohingya victims, including children and adults, were smuggled from Myanmar into Thailand and intended for sale to a larger syndicate based in Malaysia. Thai authorities intervened at the Thailand-Myanmar border, dismantling the operation and rescuing the victims. Subsequently, both fugitives fled to South Korea.
The investigation gained momentum through cooperation between the Royal Thai Police’s Centre of Transnational Criminals and Illegal Immigration Suppression, led by deputy police chief Pol Gen Thana Chuwong, and Korean authorities, including Interpol’s National Central Bureau in Seoul.
Pol Maj Nagorn noted that Nikom and Tanawat were apprehended within a month of the operation’s initiation by South Korean authorities.
The capture of these suspects is seen as a significant step in bolstering Thailand’s efforts against human trafficking, aiming to improve its ranking in the US government’s Trafficking in Persons Report from Tier 2 to Tier 1 in future assessments.
