TRAT, Thailand – Water Police in Laem Ngop district, working with the Royal Thai Navy’s First Naval Area intelligence team, have arrested three suspects and seized two AK-47 assault rifles and more than 21,000 rounds of ammunition in an alleged international arms-smuggling operation, August 24.
The operation followed intelligence that a shipment of war weapons would be transported by sea from a neighboring country through the Chong Chang channel in an attempt to evade border security checkpoints.
Laem Ngop Water Police, led by Pol. Maj. Col. Pitak Kitti, coordinated with the Naval Intelligence Division and the First Naval Area to set up an operation to intercept the suspected shipment. The operation began in the afternoon when officers aboard a speedboat positioned themselves near the pier at Than Mayom Waterfall in Ko Chang Tai subdistrict, Ko Chang district. Officers later received a radio report that a suspicious speedboat had been spotted traveling at high speed. They immediately gave chase while coordinating with undercover Water Police officers waiting near Direk Pier in Khlong Yai subdistrict, Laem Ngop district.
The suspected speedboat eventually entered Direk Pier, where officers moved in and arrested three people — two men and one woman — all reportedly from Trat province. A red SUV with Trat registration plates was also seized after allegedly arriving at the pier to collect the shipment.
The suspects and seized items were taken to Laem Ngop Police Station, where police, district officials and military personnel jointly inspected metal boxes and ammunition crates concealed inside fertilizer bags. The search uncovered two AK-47 assault rifles, 102 AK-47 magazines and 21,409 rounds of ammunition.
The ammunition included 12,244 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition in 17 boxes, another 8,400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition in 12 boxes, and 765 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition in nine boxes. Police said the three suspects are being questioned over serious charges, including illegal possession of war weapons and illegally smuggling dangerous war weapons into Thailand. Investigators believe the suspects may be part of a larger trafficking network and are expanding the investigation to identify other key individuals linked to the operation. Police have not released the suspects’ names, citing concerns that doing so could affect the ongoing investigation.
