Banglamung Police breaking up a drug party behind the Thamsamakkee Temple got more than they bargained for when they found an M16 assault rifle amid the methamphetamines.
Eight unidentified men and two women were apprehended when police surrounded the temple-area shack May 4. Another 10 were able to escape.
Inside the hut police found eight ya ba tablets and an unspecified amount of marijuana. In the back of the shack, however, police found the assault rifle along with 26 bullets.
The drug suspects denied ownership of the gun, saying it was the property of an enlisted soldier friend.
Police found more than they bargained for when they recovered an M16 assault rifle amid the methamphetamines whilst breaking up a drug party.
Shortly later, the soldier, A-non Orachanka, 22, presented himself at Banglamung Police Station to claim the rifle. He said he’d just left duty in Thailand’s restive south and, rushed to visit friends and family, didn’t have time to return it to his post at the Nawamin Military Camp Ammunition Division in Narathiwat.
Police notified military officials about the recovered weapon while charging the drug party users with illegal possession of narcotics.
