Thailand will charge detained crew members with crimes related to trafficking the 35-ton arms shipment in violation of sanctions slapped on North Korea for its missile and nuclear tests.
By Ben Hancock
The Christian Science Monitor
December 13, 2009
Thai authorities have intercepted a cache of grenades, rocket launchers, and other heavy arms from North Korea after the plane carrying them was forced to land in Bangkok for fuel. Acting on a tip from the United States and in line with United Nations sanctions, Thailand is now trying to piece together where the weapons were headed.
The five crew members, four with Kazakh passports and one from Belarus, have all been arrested but remained tight-lipped. Thailand will charge them with crimes related to trafficking the 35-ton arms shipment in violation of sanctions slapped on North Korea for its missile and nuclear tests in spring, reports Reuters. Those restrictions aim to choke off the North’s weapons trade, one of the impoverished state’s few sources of income.
An air force official involved in the inspection of the craft, who declined to be named, said on Saturday the Thai authorities had been asked by the United States to investigate the plane and its cargo.
The article continues here.
