Nine arrested for gasoline smuggling

PHUKET: Marine Police on Wednesday seized two vessels and 116,000 liters of smuggled gasoline. Nine crew members of the two vessels were arrested. Pol Col Misakawan Buara, Superintendent of Phuket Marine Police said that his men had seized the Chockkrating 222, a modified fishing boat, with 110,000 liters of fuel on board, along with the Suapisarn 10 which had on board 6,000 liters which had been transferred from the first boat. The arrests took place in Thai territorial waters 22 miles west of Surin Island, Phang Nga Province. He said that the arrested crew members face charges of failing to pay gasoline import duty and using walkie-talkies without permits. So far this year, police anti-smuggling operations around Thailand have resulted in the seizure of 19 vessels and more than 2 million liters of fuel. Had the arrested smugglers managed to remain undetected, the government would have lost around 6 million baht in import duty.