Crime
Police Sergeant Arrested for Stealing Over 90 Handguns
A police sergeant has been arrested and his boss transferred over the theft of over 90 handguns from the police station where he was based.
Thailand’s National police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas said Pol Snr Sgt Maj Chaowalit Phumkhachorn was apprehended on Thursday afternoon in Nong Khai, Thailand.
He stated that police investigators would fly to the northeastern Thailand to return the suspect to the Nonthaburi police station to face legal action.
The theft of 90 guns at the Pak Kret police station in Nonthaburi allegedly occurred over a two-year period but was just recently revealed, according to a police source.
On Wednesday, the Nonthaburi Provincial Court issued an arrest warrant for the officer.
The Pak Kret station chief, Pol Col Phongchak Preechakarunpong, has been reassigned to the Provincial Police Region 1 operations centre until the outcome of an investigation into handgun storage and distribution at the station.
Prior to the transfer order, Pol Col Phongchak convened an emergency conference of senior officials in charge of disbursing official handguns from the station’s weapons stockpile.
The precise quantity of stolen handguns was unknown.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Chaowalit was in charge of dispensing station supplies, including handguns. According to Pol Gen Damrongsak, he allegedly faked documentation indicating that handguns had been distributed to officers at the station.
Meanwhile, the national police chief said he had directed officers in all locations to recover as many stolen handguns as possible and to warn those who purchased or have the stolen handguns in their possession to return them to the Pak Kret police station immediately or face legal action.
Thailand and Handguns
According to the World Population Review website, Thailand is now rated 15th among countries with the highest gun-related deaths and second in Southeast Asia.
Brazil, the United States, Mexico, India, and Columbia have the highest gun-related deaths, whereas the Philippines has the highest number of deaths in the ASEAN area.
Thailand has the biggest number of handguns in private hands among ASEAN member countries, according to the Small Arms Survey (SAS) in 2017.
According to the World Population Review website, Thailand is now rated 15th among countries with the highest gun-related deaths and second in Southeast Asia.
Brazil, the United States, Mexico, India, and Columbia have the highest gun-related deaths, whereas the Philippines has the highest number of deaths in the ASEAN area.
A total of 10,342,000 weapons were documented, with 6,221,180 properly registered and the rest illegal. This means that 15 out of 100 Thais own handguns.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha recently convened his first meeting on gun and illegal narcotics control to draft recommendations for successfully addressing drug abuse and gun-related violence.
They also addressed the possibility of withdrawing the weapons licenses of persons deemed a threat to society or addicted to drugs.
The Royal Thai Police are also considering removing guns from police officers who misbehave or are prone to gun violence, even if they were legally purchased. This policy might also include retired cops.
