4 police officers and 3 men arrested for smuggling motorcycles

Authorities arrested four police officers, one Thai man, and two Cambodian men yesterday at a pier in the southeastern province of Trat for smuggling six motorcycles into a neighbouring country.

The Marine Special Unit 182 received a tip-off from an authority spy that the smuggling was to take place at a pier in the Mai Root sub-district, Khlong Yai district in Trat province at 1am on Tuesday, February 28. The smuggled motorcycles were reportedly destined for transfer to a neighbouring country via boat.

Authorities monitored the location in secret, waiting until 10pm when seven smugglers appeared on the scene before making a move to arrest them. Four of the smugglers were officers stationed at the Khlong Yai Police Station, whose responsibility was to oversee the area. The other members were Thai and Cambodian citizens. Their identifications have not been revealed.

The seven suspects were charged with violating Section 242 of the Customs Act: whoever imports or exports products that have not duly passed through customs shall be punished with imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of four times more expensive than the product price, or both.

The motorcycle smuggling racket in Pattaya had just been reported three days ago. Officers from the Bang Lamung Police Station conducted an investigation into seven Honda Wave 110i motorcycles that had been stolen and hidden in the forest. The witness reported seeing a pickup truck carrying two to three motorcycles passing through the forest at night a few days before the discovery.

After a thorough investigation, the officers were able to arrest 15 suspects aged between 15 and 40 years old at 10.30am today. The group admitted to stealing motorcycles parked at condominiums in the province and hiding them in the forest before selling them. The group did not reveal where or to whom they sold the stolen vehicles.