A senior mechanic and manager at a truck weigh station in Ayutthaya’s Wang Noi district has been arrested in a shocking corruption case.
Officers from the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission and the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) raided the suspect at his home near the station this morning.
Suspicions were immediately raised when a cache of about 40,000 baht in cash was discovered in Noppadol’s possession. But things got worse when a search of his office uncovered two handguns, a laptop and a computer, all of which were quickly seized by investigators.
Police Major General Charoenkiat Pankaew, deputy director of the CIB, revealed that numerous complaints had been received from truck drivers who accused Noppadol of demanding bribes for their vehicles to bypass the weigh station. “Bribery was paid to prevent trucks from being weighed.”
These illegal payments could amount to a staggering 5 million baht per month.
Adding further fuel to the conspiracy, police discovered barriers strategically placed at the entrances to the weighing stations to prevent trucks ostensibly undergoing repairs from entering. However, after the barriers were removed, police randomly stopped several trucks for inspection.
To their surprise, all the trucks met the weight regulations, raising further doubts about the need for such repairs, reported Thai PBS World.
In related news, police arrested the former chairman of a Bangkok provincial administrative organization for negligent road construction in Chaiyaphum, causing numerous injuries to local residents. The individual also had 38 arrest warrants for check fraud.
In other news, police arrested the director of the Public Works Department of New Bang Buathong City, Nonthaburi province, aged 48. He is accused of accepting 100,000 baht in bribes to obtain construction permits. He claims the funds were intended for hiring outside engineers and architects.
