62,000+ suspects arrested as Bangkok prepares for Apec Summit
Police have arrested more than 62,000 suspects facing weapons, drugs and other criminal charges in a month-long crackdown ahead of the Apec Summit in Bangkok next week.
National Police chief Pol General Damrongsak Kittiprapas called a press conference on Tuesday to announce the results of raids conducted from October 10 to November 8.
He said the arrests were categorised as:
• 10,450 arrested in 11,811 cases related to guns, explosives and ammunition. Also seized were 36 war-grade rifles, 5,345 unlicensed guns, 936 licensed guns, 4,342 explosives and 37,045 rounds of ammunition.
• 43,024 arrested in 41,803 drug-related cases. Also confiscated were 49.58 million methamphetamine pills.
• 9,255 arrested in response to 9,465 arrest warrants for criminal cases.
Damongrongsak said he has been stepping up efforts to track down suspects wanted under arrest warrants, and so far, 50% have been arrested.
He added that Provincial Police Bureau 5 also cracked the case of modified guns being sold online. He said a suspect, identified only as Weerayuth, has been arrested for allegedly selling air guns that can fire real 9mm bullets via several online platforms, including Line and Facebook.
Damrongsak said police also tracked down buyers and 209 shops that stocked these modified guns, and arrested 54 suspects. A total of 110 guns and 13,320 rounds of ammunition were seized from these suspects.
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