DRUG SUPPRESSION
Nigerian prisoners hoping to go homeAnucha Charoenpo
The Corrections Department is considering requests from 350 Nigerian drug offenders wishing to serve out their sentences in their home country under an agreement signed with Abuja in November.
If all requests were granted, the prisoner transfer would be the largest in the country's history.
However, a source said the Corrections Department was seeking cooperation from the Nigerian embassy in confirming the applicants' nationalities, as many African inmates held fake Nigerian passports.
To be eligible for the transfer, inmates must have spent at least four years in a local prison, or eight years for those serving life terms.
Prisoners on death row would not be considered for the scheme.
Thailand currently held prisoner transfer agreements with 23 countries.
A total of 259 foreign inmates had been transferred to their home countries over the past decade.
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