Airport denies gun security breach
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 27 June, 2015, 1:30am
UPDATED : Saturday, 27 June, 2015, 1:35am
Associated Press in Bangkok
Lieutenant General Comronwit Thoopgrajank was arrested on Monday at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on his way back to Bangkok with a handgun containing five bullets in his check-in luggage, according to a police official at Narita. Photo: AFP
Airport officials in Thailand say they followed proper security measures and gave no special treatment to Bangkok's former police chief who was arrested earlier this week in Tokyo with a loaded gun in his luggage.
Lieutenant General Comronwit Thoopgrajank was arrested on Monday at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on his way back to Bangkok with a handgun containing five bullets in his check-in luggage, according to a police official at Narita.
The official said the gun was detected by X-ray check after it passed the airline check-in counter. Comronwit had in the meantime obtained his boarding pass and gone to the gate, where police brought his suitcase and opened it in his presence.
The official said Comronwit's explanation was that he had forgotten the gun was in his suitcase.
Comronwit was Bangkok's police chief from 2012 to 2014 and then retired. His arrest has been front-page news in Thailand as questions swirled over whether he got a gun past airport security at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport or if he obtained it in Japan and why.
Suvarnabhumi officials called a news conference to deny any breach in security. They showed CCTV footage showing Comronwit entering the airport and going through security, removing his shoes and getting two carry-on bags checked by scanners.
"The findings can confirm no guns or ammunition were found" in the carry-ons or on the retired officer himself, said Suvarnabhumi Airport General Manager Sirote Duangratana. He said a report from his checked-in baggage "showed it was cleared and the luggage did not have any hazardous material."
In Japan, carrying a gun is illegal except for police and others licensed for hunting and other limited purposes. Violators can face up to 10 years in prison.
Comronwit was handed over to Japanese prosecutors on Wednesday. Under Japanese law, prosecutors have up to 23 days to decide whether to press charges.
