Bangkok, Dec 13 (DPA) Thailand will charge five Kazakhstan and Belarus crew members who landed a cargo plane with 35 tonnes of weapons at a Bangkok airport on the weekend, the prime minister said Sunday.
“We will strictly follow our own laws and UN resolutions,” Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters. “Charges will soon be set.”
The Russian-made IL76 cargo plane landed at Don Mueang Airport Saturday for refuelling after a flight from Pyongyang, North Korea. Acting on a tip from US intelligence services, Thai authorities boarded the plane and discovered 35 tonnes of weapons including missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Police impounded the plane and detained the five crew members, who were identified as Kazakh passport holders Alexandr Zrybnev, 53, Viktor Abdullayev, 58, Vitaliy Shumkov, 54, Ilyas Issakov, 53; and Belarus national Mikhail Petukhiu, 54.
“We are not yet clear why they were transporting these weapons, we only know they were due to refuel in Colombo,” Abhisit told The Nation online news service.
“It is not yet clear if this is terrorist activity,” he said.
Abhisit confirmed that the Georgia-registered aircraft had taken off from Pyongyang, and the arms came from a North Korean company.
The crew requested permission to land for refuelling in Bangkok and then lied to inspectors about its cargo, claiming to be carrying oil-drilling equipment.
“They committed two crimes, firstly, they gave false information about their cargo, and secondly the cargo was found to be weapons,” Abhisit said.
The weapons were transferred to an armed forces depot in Nakhon Sawan, in central Thailand.
