A police lieutenant with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) in Nonthaburi province has been arrested on charges of assembling air rifles and selling them online.
The officer, identified only as Pol Lt Punnatad, 35, was arrested at his townhouse in tambon Bang Rak Noi of Muang district, said Pol Lt Gen Worawat Watnakornbancha, the CCIB commissioner.
Police found and seized three high-pressure air rifles, 200 round pellets, 150 scopes, 100 air rifle stocks and other components, including air pumps and hand grips, he said.
Pol Lt Gen Worawat said the arrest by a CCIB team was part of a campaign to crack down on illegal online businesses. He said the suspect had a YouTube channel, showing him assembling air rifles, and a Line account that he used to sell them.
Pol Lt Gen Worawat said the suspect had been selling air rifles for three years at 15,000 baht each, adding that he earned about 300,000 baht a month.
His customers were gun enthusiasts and farmers who bought the air rifles to protect their land from wild animals, he said.
The suspect has been charged with assembling, importing, possessing and trading firearms and ammunition without authorisation as well as unlawful ownership of weapons and ammunition, Pol Lt Gen Worawat said.