PUBLISHED: 25 Jun 2024 at 04: 41
Nine marine police in Chon Buri who may be responsible for the disappearance of the three smuggling oil ships in Sattahip district this month are being investigated by the Central Investigation Bureau ( CIB ), according to deputy commissioner Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat Pankaew.
He explained that the Thai Marine Police Division and the CIB’s Anti-Corruption Division (ACD ) had collaborated to look into the nine officers ‘ phone usage histories.
The Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD ) will receive the information for investigation before submitting it to the Crime Suppression Division ( CSD ) to file charges against officers who are suspected of being involved.
Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat said if the information warrants it, the first fee will be for misconduct, and there will be a more administrative research.
The senior officers who made claims that they were involved in another oil-smuggling corruption situation that occurred about four years ago will also be investigated by the analysis team.
By following Monday, Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat predicted that the investigation’s progress would be clearer.
According to him, the police are looking into” Joe Namman Thuen,” also known as” Joe Pattani,” who they believe is the ringleader of the oil smuggling gang.
By the following year, Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat predicted that a warrant for Joe Pattani’s arrest would be issued. He claimed that although Joe Pattani is aware that he is in Cambodia, he also has Thai and Vietnamese countries, which allow him to reside there. After the arrest warrant is issued, the officers will find a dark notice against him with Interpol, he said.
On March 19, five boats were seized and docked at the sea authorities wharf in Sattahip, Chon Buri. Three of them had a total of 330, 000 gallons of seized fuel. Twenty-eight members of the crew were detained and rescued. On the night of June 11, three warships with crude disappeared from the wharf, along with 15 staff members.
On June 17, police eventually seized three ships near Malaysia’s maritime border with nearly empty petrol tanks. The oil was discovered to be being sold while the ships were docking in Cambodia.