Five suspects - Thai navy officers and civilians - accused of involvement in an illegal arms supply network linked to an arrested Chinese national in Pattaya have been charged with the illegal possession and sale of weapons of war.
Three of the suspects were arrested late Saturday. This followed a chain of events beginning with a car crash in Bang Lamung, Chon Buri, that led to the discovery of a huge arsenal at the Pattaya home of the 31-year-old Chinese suspect, Sun Mingchen.
Two more suspects were later summoned for questioning.
According to police, Mr Sun visited a shooting range in Pattaya where he met the operator Kachen and exchanged Line contacts. Mr Sun later allegedly asked Mr Kachen to help him buy an M16 rifle, providing photos of the weapon model he wanted.
To source the weapon, Mr Kachen then forwarded the photos to the other men, according to police.
They found that an M16 rifle was available for 200,000 baht.
Police then found that the Chinese suspect had transferred 900,000 baht to one of the men and 900,000 baht to another.
More payments were allegedly made between Mr Sun, the shooting range operator and the navy officers for sourcing weapons and making other arrangements.
