Crime Suppression Division police seized 1700 bars of powergel explosives and detained three people in a raid on a cement company in Chalerm Prakiat district yesterday. The raid followed close on the heels of the seizure on Tuesday of a small amount of powergel in a room in Bang Phlat district of Bangkok rented by the nephew of an anti-Thaksin activist.
In yesterday’s raid, police also found 101 detonators, and 24 packs of ammonium nitrate fertiliser.
The powergel bars each weighed 400g, while the fertiliser weighed a total of 600kg.
The whole cache was found in a garbage facility in the compound of Cemex (Thailand) company, a cement factory located on Highway 21 linking Saraburi with Lop Buri province.
Central Investigation Bureau commander Pol Lt-Gen Montri Chamroon said it was the biggest haul of such explosives in five years.
The company is thought to have been storing the explosive for use in quarrying.
