Vessel caught smuggling diesel

Vessel caught smuggling diesel

Police search the oil tanker MV Nua Samut ship, moored near Koh Sichang, off Chon Buri province, on Saturday afternoon. Details of the raid were given on Tuesday. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert)
Police search the oil tanker MV Nua Samut ship, moored near Koh Sichang, off Chon Buri province, on Saturday afternoon. Details of the raid were given on Tuesday. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert)

SAMUT PRAKAN: A small oil tanker carrying 400,000 litres of smuggled diesel has been seized and the four crew arrested by marine police, deputy police chief Pol Gen Suchart Teerasawat said.

Pol Gen Suchart, as director of the police centre for suppression of illegal fuel, said the Thailand-registered MV Nua Samut 9 was boarded and searched by marine police while  moored near Koh Sichang, off Chon Buri province, on Saturday afternoon.

They found an undeclared cargo of 400,000 litres of diesel oil, he said during a media briefing on Tuesday.

Four crewmen on board the tanker were arrested - the captain Suwan Inthongpan, 56,  Montree Sukchit, 41, the engineer, and crewmen Suriyan Meksaen, 34, and Putharak Suisena, 37.

The vessel was moved to a nearby boat landing up the Chao Phraya river at tambon Laem Fa Pha in Samut Prakan's Phra Samut Chedi district.

Excise and customs officials examined the diesel and the vessel's documents and confirmed the fuel had been smuggled into the country.

Pol Lt Gen Jirapop Puridet, commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said the smuggled diesel would have been sold to pump outlets, boat operators and other clients for  15-16 baht per litre. The current retail price is around 30 baht per litre.

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