Police raided three Pattaya-area garages suspected to be chop shops for a gang of car thieves.
Crime Suppression and Central Investigation Bureau officers stormed two garages near the Mabprachan Reservoir and on Highway 36 in Pong before raiding the final site on Soi Sukhumvit 15/3.
There they found the chassis of a gold, four-door Isuzu pickup owned by navy Lt. Jittaporn Angsanam from the Sattahip Naval Base that had been stolen Dec. 9.
Police arrested garage owner Eakarach Kuladnam, 44, charging him with stripping stolen vehicles for parts.
Jittaporn said the truck was stolen from his navy housing at U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya Airport. He helped police over the next two months track down the vehicle.
Police said the shops were all connected to a gang stealing and chopping up cars and trucks for parts.
