Two Chinese nationals were arrested while allegedly carrying hazardous e-waste in Thailand.

Guo, 55, and Li, 42, allegedly imported tonnes of chemical and electronic waste from which to extract heavy metals at the illegal facility in Chachoengsao province.

The pair were detained by environmental officers in a raid on January 26, after a falsely declared shipment of 10 containers loaded with 256 tonnes of e-waste was seized by customs officials.

The shipment was traced back to the Chinese suspects found to be operating the recycling factory.

Authorities shut down the illegal waste facility, where they found 1.5 tonnes of ground e-waste with high levels of heavy metals like lead and arsenic. They seized 10 more tonnes of ground discard from which the metals were separated.

Li reportedly identified himself as the factory manager, and Guo as the factory owner. Both were arrested on charges of unauthorised possession of Category 3 hazardous substances.

Police Colonel Winyu Jamsai, superintendent of the Natural Resources and Environment Crime Division 2, said: ‘Both suspects admitted that they did not have permission to process the hazardous materials. We have handed them over to the inquiry officer of the local police station for further legal action.'

The Department of Industrial Works said it was inspecting potential environmental damage caused by the factory's operations.