50 Thai police punished for links with traffickers

BANGKOK, May 7 (Agencies):   More than 50 Thai police officers have been punished over suspected links to human trafficking networks, the country's police chief said Thursday, after the prime minister ordered a probe into the discovery of trafficking camps near the Malaysian border.
Thai authorities also issued 10 more arrest warrants on the day against people suspected of human trafficking, as part of a blitz on camps used by people-smugglers sparked by the discovery of dozens of migrant remains.
National police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said officers were working to clear all camps within 10 days following an order by the prime minister, but did not provide details of how many sites he believes are located across southern Thailand.
"I will not allow these kind of camps to exist in Thailand," he told reporters in Bangkok.
Authorities have been at pains to show the country is serious about tackling people-smuggling after years of accusations that they turn a blind eye to-and are even complicit in-the trade.
Thirty-two bodies, believed to be migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, have been found in shallow graves over the past week in the southern province of Songkhla. Some of the bodies were found at a suspected human trafficking camp hidden deep in the jungle.