Thai blasts linked to human traffickers
Thai police yesterday said a foreigner arrested in connection with the deadly Bangkok bombing was part of a people-smuggling gang who may have launched an attack in response to a crackdown on their trade.
The unidentified foreigner, who is being held in military custody at an undisclosed location, was seized during a Saturday morning raid on a flat on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok.Investigators say he was found with bomb-making equipment and dozens of fake passports.
National police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said officers believed the suspect was part of a crime group who helped illegal migrants obtain counterfeit documents -- and that the bomb attack was retaliation for a recent crackdown by Thai authorities.
"They (the gang) are unsatisfied with police arresting illegal entrants," he told Channel 3 in a telephone interview without elaborating how investigators knew this.
"It's a network that fakes nationalities and sends them (illegal migrants) on to third countries," he added.
The blast that hit the Erawan shrine in a busy Bangkok shopping district on August 17 was Thailand's worst single mass-casualty attack, killing 20 people.Thai authorities have played down any suggestion the attack was launched by international terrorists.
Authorities have yet to say what nationality the detained man is but they believe he had accomplices for whom they are now searching. The manhunt has focused on a prime suspect, described as a foreign man, who was captured on security footage and leaving a bag at the shrine moments before the blast. Authorities have not yet said whether they believe the suspect now detained is the same as the man in the video footage.
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