Acting Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police mobilized to search and arrest SIM card vending machines, ordered the opening of the operation ‘Bombing the Bandit Bridge’ to cut off the connection between the call center gang and the public.
Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police, Acting as Director of the Technology Crime Suppression Center, Royal Thai Police, is expediting the crackdown on call center gangs by launching the operation ‘Blowing Up the Bandit Bridge’, cutting off connections between criminals and the public, including phone signals, internet signals, ghost SIM cards, mule accounts, SMS, and social media platforms.
From October 1-10, 2024, the Royal Thai Police’s Crime Suppression Division mobilized police forces nationwide, supported by information from the NBTC and network service providers, to search 647 SIM card machines and small shops nationwide that sold and registered SIM cards for criminals. The goal is to collect evidence, issue arrest
warrants, and prosecute those who registered SIM cards for criminals.
The search results resulted in the arrest and prosecution of over 20 shops for the crime. The confiscation of 101,068 Thai SIM cards, 113 SIM BOX devices, 575 mobile phones, 23 computers, and several copies of ID cards/passports and work permits of foreigners for registering telephone numbers.
From the search of targeted SIM vending machines nationwide, two registration gaps were found: (1) The possession of a large number of SIM cards by the perpetrators, which were registered before the NBTC’s announcement that the possession of SIM cards would not exceed five SIM cards.
(2) Online SIM registration: The system cannot detect incorrect registrations, such as uploading a photo that is not yours. You can upload anything, or type a message with your name or other text that does not identify you. The NBTC will discuss this matter with the NBTC and network service providers to resolve this issue urgently.
From now on, the Royal Thai Police w
ill investigate the phone numbers that criminals use to call and deceive people that have been reported in the Thaipoliceonline system to determine which SIM machines are registered for the call center gangs. Strict legal action will be taken. The Royal Thai Police believes that criminals who set up bases of operations in neighboring countries will not be able to contact or deceive Thai people if there are no SIM machines or responsible persons to help register SIM cards for the criminals or if the registration system allows criminals to register without being able to know who they are.
The operation ‘Bombing the Bandit Bridge’ will continue to be carried out, including ‘SIM, Tower, Bank Account, SMS and Social Platform’ to eliminate the call center gang problem.
Source: Thai News Agency