PHNOM PENH: The authorities nabbed eight people in the eastern border province of Sa Kaew here for hiring children to smuggle rice.
According to the Khmer Times, the eight were arrested for using the children to smuggle sacks of unmilled rice from Cambodia to Thailand.
Members of the military, border patrol police, local administration and Customs officers were involved in the raid following a tip-off from Cambodia.
The team had earlier been patrolling the border in Ban Sangae of Tambon Tapsadet in the Ta Phraya district.
A large number of children and a few adults were caught pushing carts along the Sripen Road, which is parallel to the Thai-Cambodian border. Three trailers and eight farm trucks were also spotted on the deserted road.
Upon inspection, the carts were found to contain the sacks of unmilled rice, leading to the arrest of 120 people at the scene.
The children, who were taken into custody, said the village headmen had promised to pay them 20 baht for each full sack they smuggled across the border.
All the legal minors were later released, but eight adults remain in custody for further questioning.
The smuggled rice weighed a total of 42 tonnes.