Pirates Caught In Border Province

RANONG: Authorities arrested nine suspects and seized a cache of weapons believed to have been used in pirate attacks on fishing trawlers plying the waters off Ranong province. On Monday, patrol officers from the Royal Thai Navy Third Fleet uncovered weapons and ammunition buried in the sand of a small island off the Ranong coast. The cache included three M-16 rifles, a machine gun and 956 rounds of ammunition. Navy and Muang district police officers apprehended nine Burmese suspects, all men, shortly before noon on Wednesday after spotting them at the Ranong fresh market. All were charged with weapons offenses. The group of pirates, identified by navy officials as “FTUB”, had been sought by authorities in connection with recent attacks on fishing boats working the Andaman Sea near the Thai-Burmese border. The nine suspects are being held in Ranong Provincial Prison pending an arraignment hearing on the charges.