Surat thani: Police Lieutenant General Ruttapol Nawarat, Minister of Justice, has announced the findings of an investigation into a significant oil stockpiling operation, following the discovery of irregularities in maritime transport routes.

According to Thai News Agency, the investigation traced the movement of oil tankers, revealing that 96 voyages set out from depots with a total of 217 million liters of oil, destined for six oil depots in Surat Thani province. However, upon arrival, only 160 million liters were accounted for, indicating a mysterious disappearance of 57 million liters during transit.

Police Lieutenant General Ruttapol assured that the oil refinery was not implicated in the hoarding, as inspections confirmed that the oil remaining in tanks was simply the portion not extractable for sale through the normal system.

Police Colonel Yutthana Praekham, Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), stated that the incident clearly qualifies as a crime, notably involving "delaying of transportation," which is a form of stockpiling and refusing to sell oil.

Concerns have also been raised regarding potential illegal oil smuggling at sea, posing risks to public order and the national economic and financial system. Consequently, the DSI has accepted this as a special case, coordinating with relevant agencies and urgently summoning stakeholders for questioning.

In response, the Ministry of Justice has established a "war room" at the DSI to continuously monitor oil quantities across all systems, beginning with the crude oil import process managed by the Customs Department, to prevent any future hoarding attempts.