Langkawi Police Deny Thai National, Mastermind Of Syndicate Hiding On Island

ALOR SETAR (Kedah, Malaysia), May 14 (Bernama) -- Police denied that a Thai national who is believed to be the key mastermind of a human trafficking syndicate in a neighbouring country is hiding on Langkawi island, as alleged by the foreign media. Langkawi OCPD, Supt Harith Kam Abdullah said efforts to track down the male suspect, identified as Pajjuban Aungkachotephan or "Ko Tong", on the island had been futile. "To date, efforts to track down the suspect had been unsuccessful, but we will continue with the search. Based on information from local residents, the suspect from the Satun province (in Thailand) is not in Langkawi," he told Bernama Thursday. According to foreign media reports, the suspect was a former senior local government official and was the key planner for the syndicate bringing in thousands of immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar to Thailand and Malaysia. Wednesday, Thai police chief, Gen Somyot Poompanmoung said the suspect had fled to a 'neighbouring country', with local Thai media claiming that Pajjuban was hiding in Langkawi. Pulau Langkawi is located merely about 45 minutes by boat from Satun in Thailand. The media from a neighbouring country claimed that Pajjuban used an island belonging to him, Rat Yai in Satun to keep the immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar, before taking them to Langkawi. Meanwhile, Kedah Immigration Department director Mohamad Yusri Hashim had also been asked whether Pajjuban had entered the country using entry points in Kedah, but he declined comment. Harith Kam was also asked whether patrol boats from the Langkawi Marine Operations Force (MOF), which were patrolling the country's northern waters, would allow boats carrying foreign immigrants into the country or repel them. He said it was a difficult matter. -- BERNAMA