SONGKHLA: Police have recovered three confiscated fishing boats modified to smuggle diesel that were stolen from a pier in Chon Buri last week, but the 330,000 litres of contraband fuel they were carrying were missing.
The three vessels - the Kamraingoen, JP and Daorung - were found near Malaysia on Sunday. They were towed to the pier at Marine Police Division 7 in Songkhla, arriving at 7.35pm on Monday. One of the boats had been partly repainted and another had a malfunctioning engine.
Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, said the contraband oil had clearly been sold. The smugglers were believed to have fled from a pier in Cambodia before they had finished changing the boats' appearance.
When the vessels were recovered at sea on Sunday the tanks were almost empty, he said.
He said the three boats had been carrying oil worth 4-5 million baht on the grey market for contraband fuel when they were first seized. The three boats were worth a lot more, about 30 million baht.
Pol Maj Gen Charoonkiat said three or four police officers would be held responsible for the disappearance of the boats from the marine police pier in Sattahip district of Chon Buri on June 12.
They were among five boats seized in the Gulf of Thailand in March.