.TUESDAY, 16 MARCH 2010 16:55 S.H.A.N.
Thai police think the illegally made M79 grenade launcher parts seized in Ayutthaya on 13 March and more in the neighboring Samut Prakan on the next day are for the United Wa State Army (UWSA) that is currently at loggerheads with Burma’s ruling military junta over the Border Guard Force (BGF) deal, according to the news community in Bangkok.
The factory owner Cherdyod Jirawattanarak had reportedly admitted that he had already delivered over 1,000 of the parts to the arms traffickers. Police found 600 completed parts for the M79 grenade launchers.
Chief of Police Region #1 Krissada Pankongchuen said his investigators had yet to conclude that the seizures were linked to the red shirt demonstrations that began on 13 March, the same day the seizure was made.
“But the huge quantity of the seizure indicates that they are likely to be more for export than for internal use,” a newsman quoted the police as saying.
Demand for arms and ammo have been on the rise since tensions between the Burma Army and the UWSA were on the rise since last year.
Though they are more easily purchased in China, with which the Wa share a common border, transporting them to the Thai-Burma border through several checkpoints set up by the Burma Army has been an unsolvable problem, according to Wa sources.
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Police seize more weapon parts
Police Region 1 commander Kritsada Pankongchuen said police raided the office of Siam KS Machine & Service yesterday in Bang Bo district to search for illegal weapons.
Police found 600 completed parts for M79 launchers and 5,000 more parts buried in front of the office entrance.
Supawit Kadegul, 38, was arrested and taken for questioning.
Yesterday’s operation was a follow-up to a seizure of 300 M79 parts found in the office of Fuji Auto Parts in Ayutthaya on Saturday, Pol Lt Gen Kritsada said.
Police arrested Cherdyod Jeerawattanarak, 31, the company owner, and charged him with the illegal manufacture of firearms.
Police later searched two more offices in Samut Prakan’s Bang Phli district, Siam Kentech Engineering and P&B Pass, and found more than 30 firearm triggers and metal moulds, as well as purchase orders for weapons.
Initial investigations indicated Mr Cherdyod was hired by Mr Supawit to make the M79 parts. Mr Supawit confessed he was hired by another man whom police identified as Jirapong Kaewwaree.
The Ayutthaya court yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Mr Jirapong.
Pol Lt Gen Kritsada said police could not tell yet if the seized M79 parts could be connected to recent M79-related attacks in Bangkok.
Nattawut Saikua, a red shirt leader, said the seizure of M79 parts in the two provinces was a set-up by the government to create public panic during the group’s rally.
SAMUT PRAKAN : More illegally made M79 assembly parts have been seized in Samut Prakan as part of a police follow-up to Saturday’s seizure in Ayutthaya.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/34456/police-seize-more-weapon-parts
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