18 Royal Thai Police pistols offered on the internet
The Crime Suppression Division (CSD) reported yesterday that 18 weapons had been seized from police stations across the country, which had been offered for sale on the Internet by an arms-trafficking gang.
CSD employees raided the homes of suspected members of the gang last week, the gang operated in Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Ratchaburi, Songkhla and elsewhere -. They seized 154 firearms, including pistols and rifles, plus 14 explosives and thousands of ammunition during the raids.
Among the seized firearms were 18 Smith & Wesson, Sig Sauer and Glock pistols bearing the Royal Thai Police (RTP) shield symbol. The pistols also bore markings identifying the police station from which they were drawn.
Five of the weapons came from Thammasala Police Station and five from Lak Song Police Station, both in western Bangkok.
The other pistols came from Nakhon Pathom Provincial Police Investigation Division (2), Phutthamonthon Police Station in the same province (2), Bang Sao Thong Police Station in Samut Prakan (1), and Krathum Baen (1) and Khok Kham (1) police stations in Samut Sakhon. One of the RTP pistols is still under investigation.
The CSD believes that police officers took the weapons from the police station to pledge them to pawnshops to alleviate their financial distress, the pawnshops in turn worked with the arms dealers. The CSD discovered the pistols on the Internet before they could be sold.
Catch up on more stories here
Follow us on Facebook here
