![Ministry task force accused of extortion](https://static.bangkokpost.com/media/content/20240326/c1_2764958_240326051127.jpg)
Senator Poldej Pinprateep charged on Monday that a particular task force headed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had abused its position by extorting income from a number of plastic producers and investors.
During the Senate’s standard argument against the authorities on Monday, the Phaya Nakkharat work force recently seized about 600 tonnes of rubber, for 15 million baht, from a villager in Sangkhla Buri district of Kanchanaburi province for a month before the product began to decay.
According to Dr. Poldej, the confiscation was based on a state that the source of 29 kilograms out of the 600 kilograms was uncertain, and the rubber was n’t returned to its owner even after the peasant had clearly stated where the 29 kilograms were from.
A plastic farmer in the Ao Luk area of the southern state of Krabi, who allegedly faced a false allegation filed with the government by a powerful organization that claimed he had smuggled in rubber from a neighboring nation, reported Dr. Poldej.
The plastic farmer claimed that the task force pressured him to provide them some of his rubber so that none of it would be taken. He claimed that the task force did not assist him.
Dr. Poldej also learned that the work force routinely escorted officers from trucks carrying plastic between Thailand and neighboring countries to steal money from them.
Before January, the pay rate demanded was 1, 000 baht, while in the subsequent month, the price was raised to 5, 000 ringgit, Dr Poldej claimed.
In response to the president’s claim, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Thammanat Prompow insisted the agency’s task force has been working responsibly in its battle against plastic smuggling.
Following complaints from locals about the bad smell of foam piled up awaiting transportation, the greater assessment of the transportation of foam between Thailand and neighboring Myanmar through Kanchanaburi’s Sangkhla Buri has been implemented, according to Capt Thammanat.
Additionally, he claimed that the ministry has been informed of a report about a number of rubber traders who were responsible for the smuggling of rubber grown in a neighboring nation where labor costs are less expensive than those of Thailand before moving the smuggled product onto Malaysia.