Thais seize RI ship smuggling oil

Thais seize RI ship smuggling oil

Thai customs authorities seized an Indonesian freighter and arrested its captain on charges of oil smuggling, officials said on Monday in Bangkok.

Indonesian citizen Totok Suprapto, 40, was arrested late on Sunday night as his ship, the MV Pelangi Frontier, was off- loading diesel oil at a pier in Songkhla province, 680 kilometers south of Bangkok, Thai officials said.

Sunthorn Sisangfah, the director of Songkhla's Customs Department, said the ship had apparently been modified to smuggle oil.

He said the captain had confessed to smuggling 65,000 liters of diesel from Singapore.

"We have been watching this ship closely," he said. "We caught them while they were unloading their cargo."

Sunthorn said the ship had previously been used to ship oil and gas drilling equipment but appeared to have been specially modified for oil smuggling.

"If it's confirmed that the ship was illegally modified to smuggle oil, it will be confiscated," he said.

According to reports, many Indonesians smuggle fuel out of the country for profit. Fuel is cheaper in Indonesia than in neighboring countries because it is subsidized by the government.

However, the Indonesian government cut its fuel subsidies in January, leading to an increase in prices, which is hoped will stop fuel smuggling. -- DPA