Government house: Rutthaphol discovered irregularities in a fuel transport operation in Surat Thani, with 57 million liters of fuel missing. He insisted the refinery was not involved and ordered the DSI to accept the case as a special investigation.
According to Thai News Agency, Police Lieutenant General Ruttapol Naowarat, Minister of Justice, announced at a press conference by the Center for Monitoring and Surveillance of the Conflict in the Middle East (CMCSR) that the Ministry of Justice has been investigating oil hoarding through two parts. The first part involves investigations at the end point, gas stations, with the Royal Thai Police and the Department of Provincial Administration continuing the investigation to the source, oil depots. The second part, handled by the Department of Special Investigation, investigates the origin of the oil, from refineries to gas stations. Several violations have been discovered and arrests have been made, such as in Ang Thong, Tak, and Nakhon Sawan provinces. Furthermore, oil hoarding by traders under Sections 7 and 10 of the law has also been discovered.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Ruttapol stated that regarding the case in Surat Thani province, investigations revealed that oil tankers departed from six oil depots in Surat Thani province on a total of 96 trips, transporting 217 million liters of oil. Some oil went missing during transit; only 160 million liters reached their destination, meaning 57 million liters are missing.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Ruttapol stated that they will handle this matter using the same standards, examining the case from Surat Thani province regarding maritime transport. They have received all the necessary documents from relevant agencies and will examine inventory levels and unnecessary travel times. The DSI (Department of Special Investigation) will handle this as a special case, summoning those involved for questioning and proceeding accordingly.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Ruttapol said that a war room will be set up at the DSI, and data on oil quantities will be reported through every system and every step, starting from the Customs Department, detailing the amount of crude oil imported from abroad. These figures will be reported continuously.
Pol. Lt. Gen. Ruttapol said that regarding the refinery, they have inspected the documentation and verified the contents of the oil tanks. He confirmed that the refinery was not involved in stockpiling oil; the remaining oil in the tanks was only a small amount that they could not extract for sale.