Police arrested dozens of illegal Burmese workers during raids in northern Thailand.

Highway police set up a checkpoint after receiving intelligence about a major trafficking operation in Tak province on September 4.

They halted two pickup trucks driving 'suspiciously close together'.

Upon inspecting the vehicles, they found some 71 illegal migrants crammed inside. None of them could produce valid travel documents when questioned.

One of the drivers, Boonchuay, allegedly admitted he was hired by a Hmong man to move the migrants from a forest in Tak near Myanmar to Pathum Thani.

He earned 10,000 baht per trip and confessed to making several trafficking runs before.

The other driver, Piyawut, said he was recruited by Boonchuay for a 50,000 baht. It was his second attempt.

A police spokesman said: 'Both drivers were charged with harbouring or assisting foreigners who had entered the country illegally. The 71 Burmese workers were also charged with entering the country without permission.

'All of them were handed over to the inquiry officer for further legal action.