The chief of a truck weigh-station in Ayutthaya province has been taken into custody, by officials from the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission and Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) officers, on charges of demanding bribes from truck owners.
The suspect, only identified as “Noppadol”, is a senior mechanic attached to the Highways Department and chief of the truck weigh-station in Wang Noi. He was arrested at his home near the weigh-station this morning. About 40,000 baht in cash was found in his possession.
The officials also searched his office at the weigh-station, where they found two handguns and a note book. A computer was also seized for examination.
Pol Maj-Gen Charoonkiat Pankaew, the CIB deputy commissioner, said that the police have received complaints from truck operators, claiming that bribes had been demanded in exchange for the convenience of not having their trucks weighed at the station.
It is alleged that as much as five million baht in bribes per month have been paid by truck operators to officials at this weigh-station alone.
Charoonkiat said that the police have removed a barrier, which had been placed in front of the entrance to the weighing station to prevent trucks from getting in, claiming that the entrance was under repair.
After the removal of the barrier, a few trucks were randomly pulled over by the police for weight measurement at the station, but they were all found to be in compliance, he said.
