Chumphon: Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) police have arrested a 42-year-old man from Myanmar for allegedly smuggling 13 illegal workers into the country, packing them into a single pickup truck.

According to Thai News Agency, the arrest was conducted by the Central Investigation Bureau in collaboration with the Highway Police Division. The operation was directed by high-ranking officials, including Pol. Lt. Gen. Jiraphop Phuridet, the Commissioner-General of the Central Investigation Bureau, alongside other senior officers such as Pol. Maj. Gen. Kongkrit Lertsitthikun and Pol. Col. Bunlue Phadungthin.

The arresting team, led by Pol. Lt. Col. Kla Sombatphibun and his deputies, Pol. Lt. Col. Charan Panasri, Pol. Sgt. Maj. Wongwarit Sapkanasakul, and Pol. Sgt. Maj. Sarawut Kansurang, intercepted a vehicle on Highway 41 in Tambon Kron, Amphoe Sawi, Chumphon Province. The incident took place at 5:55 a.m. on August 24, 2025, when police noticed a grey car with tinted windows and Nakhon Pathom license plates overtaking in the right lane. Upon inspection, they found the driver, Mr. Jo Tu Ya, and 13 Myanmar nationals inside without proper entry documents.

Mr. Jo Tu Ya reportedly confessed during the investigation that he had been hired by a Mon broker in Chumphon to transport the foreign workers from Khun Krathing Subdistrict to Hat Yai District, Songkhla Province, for a fee of 12,000 baht. He was charged with “harboring, hiding, or assisting illegal aliens” and was handed over to investigators at Sawi Police Station for further legal proceedings. The migrant workers and the vehicle were also detained as evidence in the ongoing investigation.