Camronwit freed, Tokyo airport gun case dropped

JAPANESE AUTHORITIES have decided not to prosecute Pol Lt-General Camronwit Toopgrajank, a former metropolitan police chief, for carrying a gun into the Narita Airport.
Public prosecutors of Japan announced the decision yesterday, after which Camronwit was immediately transferred to an immigration office for further action. Even though the gun case was dropped, he will have to undergo a legal process for having already been in Japan longer than the 15-day visa exemption period.
“We hope Japanese authorities understand that he has no intention to overstay. It’s just that he had been detained for interrogation over the gun incident,” Police Spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri said yesterday.
He believed that Camronwit would likely be barred from re-entering Japan for up to several years.
“There are two possible scenarios. One comes with a one-year ban and the other comes with a ban lasting for a few years,” Prawut said.
The police spokesman said Camronwit, according to his relatives, would arrive at the Suvarnabhumi Airport today.
Camronwit had been detained in Japan for having a small gun inside his carry-on luggage as he was preparing to board a flight out of Narita Airport back to Bangkok with a group of Thais on June 22.
While Camronwit has admitted it was his gun, he said he was unaware the weapon was in his carry-on luggage.
Prawut said he believed Camronwit’s intention must have been taken into account when Japanese public prosecutors ruled on his case.
Asked about the possibility that Camronwit might have taken the gun into the Thai airport for his trip to Japan, Prawut said Metropolitan Police Division 1 chief Lt-General Amnuay Nimmano would have to look into the matter.
“I believe Camronwit will be summoned for questioning,” Prawut said.
The gun that landed Camronwit in trouble is a North American Arms .22 Magnum. At this point, it remained unclear as to whether Japanese authorities would seize this weapon and whether the gun was a licensed one.
“We will have to co-ordinate with Japanese authorities further,” Prawut said.