The foreigners** were arrested at the Erawadee outlet on Chao Fa West Rd just south of Wat Chalong (see main website here) during a raid carried out by Phuket Tourist Police and Phuket Immigration Police last Wednesday (Feb 20).
The raid followed police receiving a complaint about the outlet just a few days earlier, Capt Ekkachai Siri of the Phuket Tourist Police told The Phuket News today (Feb 26).
All 15 were found working illegally at the store, he said.
All 15 suspects arrested were taken to Chalong Police Station and charged with working illegally without a permit, Capt Ekkachai said.
“They all confessed to the charge,” he said.
However, all 15 were held at Chalong Police Station until they were presented at Phuket Provincial Court today, Capt Ekkachai said.
“Now they are being held in detention at Phuket Immigration while they are processed for deportation and have their names added to the Immigration blacklist,” he said.
*The names of all 15 suspects were removed from this article after The Phuket News confirmed on Feb 28 that police will be charging Erawadee with deceiving people to work without a work permit, making all 15 also victims of a crime themselves.