Thais arrested in us over suspicious gun-parts shipments

Apart from assigning Pol General Pansiri Prapawat to handle the issue, Adul also instructed a police unit that handles firearms-related investigations to join the probe, and instructed the chief of the police’s Foreign Affairs Division, Pol Maj-General Manote Tantrathien, to contact US authorities and request information from them.
The move came after US federal prosecutors on Monday announced the arrests over the weekend of the two women and four men for conspiring and then attempting to violate the US Arms Control Export Act.
Thai citizen Supanee Saeng-uthai, 35, was arrested in Berkeley, California, while another Thai, Nares Lekhakul, 36, was detained in Bellevue, Washington state, and his elder brother Naris Lekhakul, 42, was arrested at the Seattle-Tacoma (SeaTac) International Airport in the same state. Three Americans of Thai origin were also arrested: Witt Sittikornwanish, 24, and Sangsit Mowanna, 35, were arrested in Los Angeles, while Wimol Brumme, 41, was detained in Las Vegas.
The chief of the US Attorney’s Office in Seattle, Jenny Durkan, said on Tuesday that the arrests happened over the weekend.
Naris reportedly served to an adviser to a former Bangkok governor in 2000.
Durkan’s office described Naris as the ringleader. He was arrested at SeaTac as he arrived from Thailand, the office said.
Prosecutors say that between 2011 and 2013, the group concealed weapons parts in cargo shipped to Asia under misleading labels. Officials allege the group is responsible for at least 240 shipments.
The suspects did not obtain licences to make firearms shipments, used false names and invoices to avoid detection, packed the goods in certain ways to avoid detection by X-ray scanners and falsely labelled the contents of packages, according to the US Attorney’s Office. The packages did not contain details on further destinations inside Thailand or the intended recipients of the firearms components here, the office said.