103 Under a responsible command or hierarchy The precise contours of the hierarchy of the transnational criminal syndicate responsible for mass trafficking activities in Southeast Asia between 2012 and 2015 are poorly defined. Based on evidence uncovered to date, neither the Commission nor Fortify Rights can say with certainty whether all trafficking activities funnel up to one overarching leader, or instead, whether the group consists of multiple trafficking rings that work in concert with one another to meet its objectives. While substantial details need to be further investigated, the work of the Commission to date, testimony from Thailand’s mass human-trafficking trial, and interviews conducted by Fortify Rights provide sufficient information to confirm the existence of a hierarchy. Interviews conducted by Fortify Rights with human traffickers revealed the existence of traffickers who are “shareholders” in the trafficking network, and that the shareholders protect one another from arrest.443 A separate witness closely aligned to traffickers described “team leaders” and “financiers” above the individuals involved in interacting with trafficked persons, whom the prosecution in Thailand’s human-trafficking trial named or prosecuted.444 According to testimony from one police commander, the network includes “Source Group” responsible for trafficking at sea, a “Midway Group” that takes individuals from boats for onward trafficking, and a third group called the “Destination Group,” which sends individuals overland to different locations along the Malaysia-Thailand border, including to Padang Besar.445 According to the same testimony, these groups and sub-groups “coordinate and support each other” by providing vehicles to transport trafficked persons.446 Moreover, the Destination Group was able to make requests up the chain to the “Source Group” for additional trafficking victims.447 Witness testimony from a Rohingya community leader in Rakhine State corroborates the existence of this hierarchical framework and suggests high-level leadership based in Malaysia. The witness stated: The main trafficker in Malaysia is from our [Rohingya] community . . . There are big traffickers on the ship. They will call the onshore brokers and say, “If you can send ten people, you will get two-million Myanmar Kyat (US$2,000; 7,000 Malaysian Ringgit) so try to find the people.” [The onshore trafficker] is the agent of the traffickers. He doesn’t know anything.448 Evidence provided in Thailand’s human-trafficking trial corroborated the existence of a highranking trafficking leader of Rohingya descent. In May 2015, Thai police arrested an individual named Anwar, aka Soe Naing, who police described as “a big guy; a top guy.”449 Police also said that “[p]hone records, financial transactions and witness testimony point to Anwar, a Rohingya living in the southern Thai province of Songkhla, allegedly playing a central role in the operation.”450 According to news reports covering the trial, Anwar ran human-trafficking camps on the MalaysiaThailand border.451 The Court ultimately sentenced him to 94 years in prison—the longest sentence given to a member of the trafficking network—for his leadership role in the trafficking network.452 443 Fortify Rights interview with #48, Bangkok, Thailand, September 23, 2014. 444 Pakpanang Court, Testimony of Mr. Thammasorn (aka Vee) Charoenrung, Case no. 784/2558, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, Thailand May 12, 2016 (Huasai case suing against drivers smuggling). 445 Fortify Rights internal report on human trafficking case, testimony of Pol. Lt. Col. from Nakhon Sri Thammarat Immigration Office, trial monitoring notes, Rachada Criminal Court, Human Trafficking Division, Bangkok, June 22, 2016. 446 Ibid. 447 Ibid. 448 Fortify Rights interview with #119, Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 20, 2015. 449 “Thai Police Arrest Rohingya Man Suspected of Running Deadly Jungle Camp,” Reuters. 450 Ibid. 451 Thai General, Cops, Politicians Jailed for Human Trafficking, Agence France-Presse, July 20, 2017, https://news.abscbn.com/overseas/07/19/17/thai-general-cops-politicians-jailed-for-human-trafficking (accessed March 25, 2019). 452 Ibid.