Two highways officials in charge of weighing stations and an accomplice have been arested and charged with demanding and receiving bribes from the operators of overloaded trucks.
Officers from the Counter Corruption Division (CCD) and officials from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) made the arrests during a series of raids on Tuesday morning.
The focused on 11 locations in seven provinces - in Ayutthaya, Chaiyaphum, Phetchabun, Nakhon Pathom, Chon Buri, Chiang Mai and Bangkok.
They took into custody Noppadon Saen-ngai, 57, head of the Ubon Ratchathani weighing station, Anek Khamchom, 59, head of Nakhon Ratchasima’s Dan Khun Thot weighing station, and Thongchai Temfom, 38, a civilian who allegedly acted as a middleman.
Pol Maj Gen Gen Jaroonkiat Pankaew, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said Mr Noppadon was also head of the "spot check special unit" under the Department of Highways.
He and his accomplices were named in arrest warrants issued by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 3. Charges include malfeasance in office, taking bribes as state officials and dereliction of duty.
Authorities also summonsed Prathin Phochairat, 39, the owner of a bank account the bribe payments were allegedly paid into. He faces similar charges.
The arrests came after a group of truck and crane operators filed complaints with various state agencies last year, accusing highways officials and civilian accomplices of demanding bribes from them, Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat said.
Then-prime minister Srettha Thavisin ordered an investigation, which led to the arrests on Tuesday morning.
Mr Noppadon and Mr Anek allegedly demanded money from the operators of overloaded trucks. Mr Thongchai was tasked with negotiating the bribes, according to the CIB deputy chief.
At least 30 truck operators in the Northeast, Central Plains and lower North had paid bribes to the suspects for several years, he alleged.
“More than 3 million baht in bribe money passed through one mule bank account opened by Mr Prathin, and was transferred to those senior officials involved," Pol Maj Gen Jaroonkiat said.
Investigators had presented their case and obtained court approval to arrest the three suspects who were apprehended separately in Chaiyaphum and Phetchabun provinces.
The suspects were being taken to Bang Pa-in and Wang Noi weighing stations in Ayutthaya province, where they had offices that would also be searched for additional evidence.
Investigators looking at the money trail found that about 126.46 million baht, believed to be bribe money, had passed through a bank account of Mr Thongchai, one of the suspects since 2015, a police source said.
The investigators also found that 31 transfers totalling 3.16 million baht had been made from Mr Thongchai’s bank account to a personal account of Mr Noppadon, the key suspect.
Most of the bribe money had been withdrawn and cash had later been handed over to those involved. Mr Noppadon’s bank account also received additional transfers of 13.23 million baht. Of the amount, 5.52 million baht had been transferred from Mr Anek, head of Dan Khun Thot weighing station and also one of the three suspects.
An extended investigation into Mr Anek’s money trail shed further light on bribe taking from truck operators.
Each operator had transferred about 5,000-100,000 baht a month to his bank account from 2020 to 2023, or about 11.46 million baht, the police source said.
