Thai police arrest members of syndicate smuggling petrol from Malaysia

[snoop1130]

Image Credit: Bangkok Post

 

The Royal Thai Police‘s (RTP) Fuel Crime Suppression Centre recently announced the arrest of two suspected members of a criminal syndicate known as “Jae Fang” in Hat Yai, Thailand. The group has allegedly been smuggling petrol from Malaysia and reselling it in the southern provinces of Songkhla, Satun, and Narathiwat.

 

The suspects, Nee Usman and Eeb Madyusoh, were apprehended while transferring petrol between modified lorries and pickup trucks at a warehouse in Hat Yai district’s Thung Lung area, about 30 kilometres from the immigration checkpoint. Authorities managed to seize two Toyota pickup trucks carrying at least 2,000 litres of diesel.

 

Deputy national police chief Pol. Gen. Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, who is also the Fuel Crime Suppression Centre’s acting director, indicated that the Jae Fang syndicate has operated this illegal petrol business for at least a decade. According to Big Joke, the group typically purchases smuggled petrol from boats operating in the Gulf and the Andaman Sea, as well as utilising modified lorries fitted with large oil tanks capable of storing up to 1,000 litres each.

 

The modified lorries are reported to enter Malaysia at least ten times per day to refill their tanks before crossing the border back into Thailand. The smuggled petrol is then stored in the syndicate’s warehouse, where the two suspects were arrested, before being transferred to trucks parked nearby in a forest located in Tha Phong subdistrict.

 

Full Story: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/crime/2-jae-fang-syndicate-members-arrested-for-illegal-fuel-activities

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-04-21

 

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[hotchilli]

20 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Deputy national police chief Pol. Gen. Surachate “Big Joke” Hakparn, who is also the Fuel Crime Suppression Centre’s acting director, indicated that the Jae Fang syndicate has operated this illegal petrol business for at least a decade.

What can one say?

[AustinRacing]

Aware of running ten times a day and for a decade and just now doing something about it? Seems like a case of police having issues with smugglers regarding protection money. 

[LittleBear57]

Easily stopped, reduce the price to a similar level and it is unviable.

[chalawaan]

Gas mmmbad mmmkay?

[chalawaan]

Always something at the messy border. You can see big joke appear in this documentary too. 

[MarcelV]

For as long as I know, Malaysian fuel has been sold here on the roadsides in bottles. This police action seems to be just for show.