Vessels recovered, 7 team also at significant
PUBLISHED: 19 Jun 2024 at 05: 08
Authorities vowed to find the oil-smuggling gang’s schemers and will detain another seven staff people who have been missing since the three seized oil-smuggling vessels were recaptured on Monday.
Pol Col Anek Taosupap, the Crime Suppression Division ( CSD ) deputy commander, said on Tuesdayy that as they investigated the case of missing vessels, police had also rounded up more suspects and witnesses related to the disappearance, adding more depth to the case.
Despite this, the analysis has now found proof of the connection between the boats and at least four people who appeared to be the operation’s instigators.
According to Pol Col Anek, the police may gather the evidence before asking the court to challenge arrest warrants for those offenders.
The three fishing boats that had been seized on Sunday were discovered in foreign waters close to Malaysia, where they had been modified to bring fuel.
The seized boats, containing 330, 000 gallons of smuggled fuel, disappeared from a wharf in Chon Buri next year.
They reportedly traveled to Koh Kood, Cambodia, before heading out into international waters close to Malaysia, according to Pol Maj Gen. Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau ( CIB ).
Authorities intercepted the three arteries– the Kamraingoen, JP and Daorung— on Monday night. At 7:35 p.m. that evening, they were towed to the pier at Marine Police Division 7 in Songkhla.
The Daorung ship’s motor was inoperable, and the Kamraingoen ship had been partially repainted.
The team fled the jetty after learning that police were after them and continued to change the boats ‘ look, according to Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat, according to Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat, who claimed the team sold the illegal oil in Cambodia.
” When the warships were recovered at sea, the vehicles were almost empty”, he said.
When they were first seized, he claimed the three boats were allegedly bringing fuel price 4 to 5 million ringgit in full on the black market for illegal energy.
The three vessels were worth a lot more, about 30 million baht.
Three or four police, according to Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat, may be held accountable for the June 12 removal of the boats from the Chon Buri sea police pier.
Five boats were seized in the Gulf of Thailand in March for smuggling fuel, including them.
On March 19, the boats were kept at the wharf of the sea officers while all of the crew members were released on bail.
He said 15 staff out of 28 were on board the three ships when they disappeared, but when police eventually found the boats, only eight personnel were on board. None of them admitted to being the vehicle owners, and they were charged with overnight crime.
Seven people are nowadays fleeing, and officers may try to find and arrest them, he said.