The arrests of the three men were made by Phuket Marine Police led by Maj Tossapol Montasit, Maj Nattapong Pruektharathikul and Capt Piyapol Thawatsuntorn together with Mr Sakorn Pudam from the Phuket Marine Office.
Those arrested were named as Min Aung Ma, 43, Moe Naing, 25 and Myint Oo Au, 30, and they were found to be in possession of a variety of boat and fishing equipment alleged to have been stolen from the Bolivian-registered fishing vessel.
Maj Tossapol said, “The arrest came after we were notified by a tour boat crew that the men were found removing boat and fishing equipment from the Bolivian-registered tuna fishing boat, which is believed to have been involved in IUU fishing, and placing the equipment in nearby mangroves.
“When officers went to the mangrove forest to investigate, Min saw them and quickly jumped into the water. Officers followed him using a rubber dinghy and managed to capture him,” he said.
“Officers then searched two tuna fishing boats and found Moe and Myint hiding inside the engine rooms.
“They told us that they were crew members of another fishing boat, and that on the morning of Nov 11 a Thai man named only as “Nor” and claiming to be a boat crew member offered them B400 each to move some boats and equipment.
“Mr Nor told them that the the legal case the boat had been involved in was now over so it was alright to move it and the equipment,” he added.
“The three Myanmar nationals confessed that they already carried out the same act twice previously.
“They were taken to Phuket City Police and charged with theft. We are continuing the investigation into Mr Nor and will take legal action against him,” Maj Tossapol concluded.
In November last year, the Royal Thai Navy seized seven of nine suspected illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) tuna fishing boats and charged three agents for presenting fake documents indicating the boats were registered in Bolivia. (See story here.)