Thai police seize arms destined for GAM
Thai police seize arms destined for GAM
Agencies, Bangkok
Police in the southern Thai province of Satun said on Monday they had seized a major cache of weapons and ammunition bound for rebels in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province.
Authorities arrested two suspects in the latest of a series of interceptions of arms shipments destined for rebel armies in Asia, including the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
"We arrested them during a shipment at La-ngu district last night at 9:00 p.m. while the arms were being transported by a small boat to open waters in the Andaman Sea," said La-ngu police chief Col. Rattakarn Karnchanachot.
The confiscated weapons included 68 AK-47 rifles, five handguns and ammunition, and the suspects confessed they were hired to transport the haul for up to 10,000 baht (US$250).
The fee was payable once the weapons were handed over on the high seas.
It was the second arms seizure this month in Thailand, notorious as an arms-smuggling hub.
Earlier this month, police at the southern Thai resort island of Phuket swooped on a fishing trawler and arrested its captain after discovering six rocket-propelled grenades, two M-67 grenades and 600 AK-47 bullets.
Satun police commander Maj. Gen. Sathien Chansawang said the arms were destined for rebels in Aceh, where the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has been fighting since 1976 for a separate state.
"The arms were bought from Cambodia and they were collected for transport by sea to rebels in Aceh province," Sathien said.
"The suspects confessed that they have transported twice before some 40 guns for the rebels in Aceh," he added.
National police chief Gen. Sant Sarutanond said he had sent his deputy Gen. Kowit Wattana to Satun to supervise the interrogation of the suspects.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra promised to launch a crackdown on illegal arms smugglers.
"We are checking on this matter across the country, and there will be a crackdown before an amnesty is issued to war weapon holders," he told reporters.
Thai intelligence authorities say most weapons smuggled through Thailand are brought in from neighboring Cambodia and sold to rebels and separatists in countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
The latest weapons haul comes as Thailand prepares to host peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels aimed at ending nearly two decades of bloody civil war.
The Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), fighting since 1983 for a separate state in the country's north and east, are expected to start peace talks in Thailand in late July or August.
Sources close to the Thai military have told AFP the Tamil Tigers were last year operating a sizable base on a Thai island 15 kilometers (nine miles) off Phuket.