Pictures courtesy of Khaosod.

 

A cunning attempt to smuggle nearly 5,000 litres of diesel across the Thai-Malaysian border was foiled on 24 April, when military personnel discovered a heavily modified 18-wheel lorry concealing fuel beneath an empty shipping container.

 

The operation was led by the Thep Satra Task Force, 5021 Infantry Company, under the command of Colonel Taweeporn Kanathong and Deputy Commander Colonel Thanapon Nuysuk. The team, headed in the field by Captain Suphanat Raksawat and Lieutenant Wanchailem Yueangyuk, worked in close coordination with the Customs Enforcement Division of the Sadao border checkpoint.

 

Officers, including Ms. Niramol Sriwutichan, Director of the Customs Control Division, and Mr. Angkul Ruangsuk, Chief of Customs Enforcement, set up a checkpoint along Kanchanavanich Road in Ban Pru Tiew, Sadao District, Songkhla Province.

 

During the routine inspection, a suspicious container truck registered in Songkhla was pulled over. The driver, 28-year-old Mr. Fadil, claimed he was transporting an empty container. However, upon inspection, officials found the container had been covertly modified to store diesel fuel.

 

Ten concealed fuel tanks were discovered, both within the container itself and underneath, containing approximately 4,900 litres of diesel in total.

 

Mr. Fadil admitted under questioning that he was employed by a well-known transport company and was paid to drive back and forth between Thailand and Malaysia. He disclosed that he filled the diesel tanks at a petrol station in Malaysia, where the fuel cost only 20 baht per litre, and planned to offload the fuel at a site in Chalung Subdistrict, Hat Yai.

 

Authorities have handed Mr. Fadil and the seized diesel over to the Sadao Customs Office for legal proceedings.

 

 

 

  Adapted by Asean Now from Khoasod 2025-04-26.

 

 

 

At least it's diesel and not drugs or human trafficking.......