Plane crew to be charged

[Groove Armada]

SE Asia
Home > Breaking News > SE Asia > Story
Dec 13, 2009
Plane crew to be charged

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An east European cargo plane, found to be transporting heavy weapons by Thai authorities during its stop at Bangkok's domestic Don Mueang airport, sits on the tarmac at the airport in the Thai capital on Saturday. -- PHOTO: AFP

<!-- story content : start --> BANGKOK - THAI authorities will bring charges against five men from eastern Europe detained in Bangkok with a plane full of North Korean weapons, premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday. The cache, including missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, was discovered after the crew, four men from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus, landed for refuelling at Bangkok's Don Mueang airport on Friday, he said. 'We will strictly follow our own laws and UN resolutions. The investigation is progressing. Charges will soon be set,' Mr Abhisit told reporters. But Thailand does not yet know where the weapons were bound, he said. 'We are not yet clear why they were transporting these weapons, we only know they were due to refuel in Sri Lanka,' Mr Abhisit told reporters. 'Security and intelligence services are continuing to investigate. It is not yet clear if this is terrorist activity,' he said. The plane began its journey in North Korea's capital Pyongyang. Mr Abhisit confirmed that the weapons came from a North Korean company and the plane was registered in Georgia. -- AFP

 

[General Veers]

Weapons bound for Mid-East

SE Asia
Home > Breaking News > SE Asia > Story
Dec 19, 2009

Weapons bound for Mid-East

<!-- by line --> <!-- end by line --> WASHINGTON - AN ILLICIT North Korean arms shipment seized in Thailand last week was destined for the Middle East, the head of US intelligence said on Friday. About 30 tonnes of sanctions-busting weapons were confiscated in Bangkok on Saturday but it had remained unclear where the North Korean shipment was headed. 'Teamwork among different agencies in the United States and partners abroad just last week led to the interdiction of a Middle East-bound cargo of North Korean weapons,' Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, wrote in a commentary in the Washington Post. Adm Blair's reference marked the first public comment by the administration on the destination of the arms and the first official confirmation on the US role in the case. Thai officials had said they seized the cargo plane carrying missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons on a tip from the United States. The cache was discovered after the plane landed for refueling on Friday. The plane began its journey in Pyongyang and Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the weapons came from a North Korean company. Thai officials said they were enforcing United Nations Resolution 1874 passed in June following North Korean missile and nuclear tests. It was the first known airborne arms cargo from Pyongyang to have been seized since the resolution banned all its weapons exports. -- AFP

 

[kensington]

Re: Weapons bound for Mid-East

They should have use Thai International and disguise those weapons as luggage.

Thai Airways International said its board was launching an investigation into the alleged evasion of excess baggage charges by Executive Chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut after the affair caused a scandal in Thailand.


Newspapers have reported that Wallop and his wife got out of paying excess baggage charges on more than 40 suitcases on a flight to Bangkok from Tokyo. The luggage was said to contain mainly fruit.

They were also said to have bypassed Thai customs controls by having their baggage delivered to the lost-and-found section at Suvarnabhumi airport.

As reported by Neuters.

 

[General Veers]

Seized weapons bound for Iran

Asia
Home > Breaking News > Asia > Story
Dec 21, 2009

Seized weapons bound for Iran

SEOUL - A PLANELOAD of weapons from North Korea seized in Bangkok this month was bound for Iran, a newspaper report said on Monday, citing documents obtained by arms trafficking experts. US Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair had said last week that the 35-tonne cargo, shipped in defiance of UN sanctions on Pyongyang, was bound for an unspecified Middle East destination. The Wall Street Journal, quoting a flight plan obtained by researchers, said the plane was due to make refuelling stops in Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine before unloading in Teheran. The paper said its new information came from a joint draft report by analysts at Chicago-based TransArms and the International Peace Information Service (IPIS) in Antwerp. Thai officials said they impounded the Ilyushin-76 on a US tip-off after it landed to refuel at a Bangkok airport on December 11 with its cargo which included shoulder-launched missiles and rocket-propelled grenades. The Belarussian pilot and four Kazakh crew have been arrested. Thai officials said the aircraft flew to Pyongyang via Bangkok two weeks ago to collect the cargo, then returned to Bangkok to refuel on December 11. The plane's crew have said they believed they were carrying oil drilling equipment. -- AFP