BANGKOK: Customs officials have seized an oil tanker used to try and smuggle 120,000 litres of crude oil into the country. The oil tanker was spotted about one nautical mile off Samut Sakhon’s Mahachai district on Saturday.
Officials inspected the oil tanker and found four men, including its captain, on board. All of them have confessed that they were paid to pick up the smuggled oil from a ship at sea and transport it to a pier in Mahachai district. The suspects have been charged with violating the Customs Act.
Woravut Vibulsirichai, who heads the Customs Department’s Investigation and Suppression Bureau, said five oil tankers used for transporting smuggled oil had been seized this year.
“Together, they contained about 268,000 litres of oil. The haul has a combined value of over Bt50 million,” he said.
