Thai police foil Aceh arms export

Fri, 11 May 2001 | Source: AP

BANGKOK (AP): Thai police on Thursday arrested two army sergeants with more than 15,000 bullets, land mines and grenades that they said were being sent to an insurgent group in Indonesia.

The two soldiers were driving two pickup trucks in the southern Songkhla province when they were stopped by police acting on a tip-off, police Col. Sakorn Thongmee said.

A search of the trucks revealed 15,500 bullets, 35 pounds (16 kilograms) of TNT explosive, 60 grenades and 48 land mines packed in wooden boxes, Sakorn said.

He said Sgt. Wichai Pasara, 42, and Sgt. Wirathai Kongtem, 32, told their interrogators that the ammunition was for rebels in Aceh, one of several Indonesian provinces where a separatist insurgency is raging.

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