Thai Police Arrest More Than 60,000 Individuals In Major Crackdown

By Linda Khoo Hui Li BANGKOK, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- Thai police have arrested more than 60,000 individuals in a nationwide firearms and drugs crackdown ahead of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Bangkok. The operations began on Oct 10 and ended Tuesday ahead of APEC Economic Leaders’ Week (AELW) held in Bangkok from 18-19 November. National police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapat said police arrested 10,450 individuals and seized among others 5,345 illegal firearms, 936 licensed firearms, 4,342 explosive items and 37,045 rounds of ammunition of various caliber. He said more than 43,027 individuals nabbed on drug charges while 9,255 wanted suspects also arrested. “The massive crackdown is one of the precautionary measures to beef up security ahead of APEC meet to build public and international community confidence,” he said in a statement. Thailand, APEC chair this year is to welcome leaders and representatives from 21 economies. Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Vice-President Kamala Harris expected to attend the summit in Bangkok. Besides that, three non-member countries have also confirmed they will attend. They are Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen as the current chair of ASEAN, and French President Emmanuel Macron. -- BERNAMA