Thai security authorities report on crime crackdowns after coup

BANGKOK, June 5 (TNA) - Thai security authorities, including police and soldiers, have reported on their joint operations to suppress crime over the past week, including the seizure of weapons, as ordered by the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The authorities of the Provincial Police Region 1 and the First Army Area Command told a joint press conference in Bangkok on Thursday that a total of 316 guns have been seized from different locations over the past week, 204 of them are unlicenced, along with more than 2,000 rounds of cartridge. The authorities said that combined forces of police and soldiers have also arrested over 1,200 offenders in drug and non-formal loan cases and others, 1,167 of whom are suspected drug addicts. According to the authorities, the combined forces of police and soldiers have continued seizing weapons in searched areas, following the May 22 coup, staged by the NCPO. In latest incidents, Thai police and soldiers seized dozens of both licenced and illegal pistols, rifles and bullet-prof vests, as well as explosives and a large amount of ammunition.(TNA)