Thai police seize grenade launcher parts from illegal factory

Police Region 1 Commander Kritsada Pankongchuen said police raided the office of Siam KS Machine & Service on Sunday in Bang Bo district in search for illegal weapons.

Police found 600 completed parts for M79 grenade launchers and 5,000 more parts buried in front of the office entrance.

Factory owner Supawit Kadegul, 38, was detained. He said that he was hired to produce parts for BB guns at 50 baht each.

A day earlier, on Saturday, 300 M79 parts were found in the office of Fuji Auto Parts in Ayutthaya, Pol Lt Gen Kritsada said.

Police arrested the company's owner, Cherdyod Jeerawattanarak, 31. He was charged with illegal manufacture of firearms.

Acting on a tip off, authorities later raided two more offices in Samut Prakan's Bang Phli district, where they found more than 30 firearm triggers and metal moulds, as well as purchase orders for weapons at Siam Kentech Engineering and P&B Pass.