THE seizure of four Vietnamese fishing trawlers off Narathiwat this week has resulted in 16 crew members being identified as suspected victims of human trafficking, national police deputy chief General Srivara Rangsibrahman-akul said yesterday.

Police suspect the fishing |operation was linked to illegal |mid-sea gasoline trading given the length of time the vessels were at sea and the distance they were from Vietnam.

The four captains of the vessels and the 16 crew – all of whom are Vietnamese – were arrested 35 nautical miles off the coast on Sunday.

They were charged with intruding into Thai waters.

The four captains were later accused of being human traffickers and 16 crew were identified as suspected victims.

Thai authorities have impounded 17 Vietnamese fishing trawlers and arrested 140 suspects since October 2015, an informed source said.

Meanwhile, officers at Nong Song Hong immigration checkpoint in Nong Khai town arrested a Thai man early yesterday, Thaweedech Mahakhun-amorn, and his Vietnamese wife, Nguyen Thi Lai, along with 11 Vietnamese workers aged between 20 and 45 who had worked in Bangkok.

Although 10 of the workers had passports, they had overstayed their visas by between 68 days and over two years, while one worker had no passport.

Thaweedech claimed that he had transported the Vietnamese to Nong Khai on the request of his wife. The Vietnamese had paid some Bt20,000 to be taken to the border, he said.

The couple was charged with harbouring law-violating migrants while 10 of the workers were charged with overstaying their visas and one was charged with illegal entry into the Kingdom.