Vientiane police have arrested and charged two people with impersonating custom officers, and using this position to exploit illegal traders.
Deputy Chief of the Vientiane Police Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Sengphet Phomaly, said on Tuesday that on July 24, police arrested Mr Somlet, 39, and Mr Ke, 48, in Akat village in Sikkhottabong district, allegedly in the act of posing as customs officers and fining traders who had smuggled goods from Thailand.
The accused are both residents of Dankham village, Sikkhottabong district, Vientiane.
The police also seized 712,500 kip (2,500 Thai baht), which the two men are alleged to have taken from the illegal traders under the pretence of issuing a fine, Lieutenant Colonel Sengphet said, adding that the men were now being detained for inquiry.
Early investigations show that the men posed as both customs officers and police officers; they are alleged to have stationed themselves on the bank of the Mekong in Akat village and issued fake fines to a number of traders who were smuggling goods from Thailand.
They are also alleged to have taken money from people they caught crossing the border as illegal migrants, Lieutenant Colonel Sengphet added.
He said the men had apparently been carrying out these activities since early 2007, but police were not tipped off until July 24, which is when the men were arrested and charged.
The men claimed they had posed as police and customs officials as a way of getting money to feed their families.
Most of the victims of the fraud were illegal traders and people from other areas who did not know them.
“The men threatened the illegal immigrants with arrest if they did not pay an on-the-spot fine,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Sengphet said local residents could no longer tolerate what was happening in their village, and reported the men to the police.
“We went to the area and staged an arrest on the same day,” he said.
He admitted that one of the reasons the men were able to get away with posing as officials for so long was that the Vientiane police headquarters did not deploy police officers in the area, and only occasionally carried out security inspections there.
He explained that cases of illegal immigration in the area were rare, and as a result, most police officers were deployed at the official Lao-Thai border checkpoint.
Lieutenant Colonel Sengphet said the police headquarters was preparing a report of the investigation to submit to the court. If the accused criminals were found guilty, they would face several months in prison, he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Sengphet urged local residents to report such incidents in their area, and emphasised the importance of always verifying the identification of people claiming to be police officers.
“Every police officer is issued with an ID card,” he said.
