A Chinese man has been sentenced to 46 years in prison for the illegal possession of military-grade weapons, C4 explosive, signal-jamming equipment and other prohibited military hardware.
The Pattaya Provincial Court delivered rulings on Monday in two cases, listed as black case No. T.45/2569 and red case No. T.25/2569. A black case is a pending case that has been accepted by the court and is still under consideration, and a red case is one in which the court has passed judgement.
Pattaya provincial prosecutors charged Sun Mingchen, 31, and another defendant with illegal possession of military firearms, ammunition, explosives and other military equipment including radio communication devices.
The charges stemmed from a police operation on May 8, during which a large cache of weapons and military equipment was found and seized from Sun.
The haul included military assault rifles, ammunition, magazines, C4 high explosive, bomb-making components, body armour, radio signal jammers and communication radios. Authorities said Sun was in unlawful possession of the gear.
During the trial, Sun pleaded guilty to all charges. The second defendant denied the allegations.
The court temporarily removed the second defendant's case from the docket and ordered prosecutors to refile the case within 15 days. It also ordered that the second defendant remain in custody pending further legal proceedings.
The court found that Sun had committed various offences under the Firearms Act, the Arms Control Act and the Radio Communications Act. Although his guilty plea was useful, the court ruled that the offences were particularly serious because they posed a threat to public safety and national security.
The court then reduced the sentence by one third before imposing consecutive prison terms totalling 44 years and 24 months, equivalent to 46 years. Legally, he can serve a maximum of 20 years of that sentence.
The court also ordered the confiscation of all seized items, including a 9mm Glock pistol, M4 and M16 assault rifles, ammunition, various anti-personnel explosives, C4 explosive, body armour, chemical protection masks, radio signal jammers, remote signal transmission equipment and other military hardware recovered during the investigation.
The case was regarded as a significant prosecution by the Pattaya provincial prosecutor's office, which secured a court judgement in less than three months from the date of the arrest.
Authorities said the swift outcome reflected close cooperation between police investigators, prosecutors and the judiciary in bringing the case to justice in accordance with the law.
The investigation began on the evening of May 8 , when officers from Na Jomtien police station responded to reports of a sedan overturning in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district. Sun was the driver and a Taiwanese woman was travelling with him. Neither was seriously injured.
However, officers' suspicions were aroused by the discovery of a handgun in the crashed vehicle. Sun was detained and the investigation broadened.
A subsequent search of his residence in tambon Huai Yai uncovered what authorities described as a large weapons stockpile.
