Thirteen Cambodians were found to be carrying other people’s passports when the van they were travelling in was stopped by police in Samut Prakan province Wednesday night.

Although the photos on the passports looked a lot like the people using them, immigration police investigated further, after receiving a tip-off that a gang had illegally arranged the loan of real passports to illegal migrants.

“We have heard that the passports are being supplied for illegal workers to produce when they run into police,” Immigration Bureau’s chief Pol Lt-General Nattorn Prohsunthorn said at a press conference yesterday. “Now, they have confessed to their crime.”

Immigration police became suspicious when they flagged down the van on the outbound Bang Na-Trat Road in Samut Prakan’s Bang Sao Thong district, and found 13 Cambodians and Peng Phosai, a 50-year-old Thai national.

Further investigation revealed that none of the Cambodians had their own passports.

Peng has been charged with hiding or helping illegal migrants to evade arrest. The Cambodian suspects are facing a charge of illegally using the passports |in a way that could cause damage to |others.

All the suspects are being held at the Bang Sao Thong Police Station.

Several gangs have arranged van services between Bangkok and adjacent provinces and border zones to transport illegal migrants on a regular basis, supplying passengers with passports of look-alikes to help them to evade arrest in the event the vehicle is stopped by authorities.

Immigration Bureau’s deputy commander Pol Colonel Banleusak Khlib-ngern urged people to alert his office if they detect suspicious activity involving foreigners.