Thai police return two suspects to China

Thai authorities have transferred two Chinese nationals, who were detained for illegal entry into Thailand and an illegal stay, to Chinese police, authorities said on Wednesday.

The Chinese police have detained and accused the two suspects, Jiang Yefei, 47, and Dong Guangping, 56, of organizing illegal border crossings and illegally crossing the border, respectively.

The transfer procedure for the two was in accordance with a cooperation mechanism between Chinese and Thai police, Chinese police said.

Jiang, a native of southwestern Sichuan Province, had been illegally staying in Thailand since November 2008. He received a criminal penalty for "illegal entry into Thailand, illegal stay and disrupting public order" in May 2009, and was incarcerated for another 10 months for "damaging public property."

Jiang was deported in April 2012, but later illegally returned to Thailand and was caught twice by Thai police.

He met Dong through the Internet in early 2015. After learning of Dong's intention of sneaking across the Chinese border, Jiang advised Dong to leave his hometown in central Henan Province and go travel through several provincial regions in order to cross, which Dong did in September.

Dong finally crossed the Chinese border in Yunnan and arrived in Bangkok on Sept. 19 after traveling through Laos.

The two were caught by Thai police on Oct. 28 and were handed over to the Chinese police on Nov. 13.

According to the police, Jiang and Dong have confessed their wrongdoing. Jiang also expressed his regret to the police and sought lenient treatment.

The police found the two were also involved in other criminal offenses pending further investigation. Endi