Sar Kheng calls for freezing of drug traffickers’ assets

MINISTER of I nter ior Sa r Kheng on Saturday ca lled for t he freezing of assets held by perpetrators of drug tra f f icking cases.

Speaking during a groundbreaking ceremony of a temple at Wat Thmey Pagoda in P r e y Veng pr ov i nc e, S a r Kheng said assets belonging to anyone charged with drugrelate d of fences c ou ld be used “to ser ve terrorists and f inance ot her crimes”.

“Drug t raf f ick ing is an i l lega l activ it y. When drug traff ickers obta i n money, it i s ca lled dirt y or black money.

“The assets held by the perpetrators, such as money, house or land, ought to be frozen until the authorities could prove that those assets were not tied to their trafficking activities,” he stressed.

He warned t hat dr ug tra ffick ing cases, if left unsettled, could create an unfavourable image of Cambodia as a haven for black money.

“When t he i nter nat iona l communit y rega rds us as a money-launder i ng dest i nat ion, we wi l l be black l isted and our banking system will be undermined. This [dr ug of fences] is a serious matter,” he said.

Sar Kheng further said people aged between 15 and 40 are vulnerable to narcotic abuses and that illegal use and trafficking of drugs jeopardised society and cost i mmense human resource losses.

He noted that his ministry had laid out plans to eliminate the use and distribution of illegal substances at entertainment venues across the country, with more attention to be paid to the rural areas.

“To t ac k le t h i s i s s ue, I appea l for t he part icipat ion of relevant parties. The police cannot do the job alone. Don’t let our societ y be controlled by drugs,” he said.

Nea k Yut hea, t he deput y s e c r e t a r y- g e ne r a l of t he National Authorit y for Combating Drugs (NACD) said he supported Sar Kheng’s latest directive.

He a lso suggested that the conf iscated assets ought to be used to f und a nt i-dr ugs campaigns.

“If the court finds that those assets were obtained from drug [trafficking activities], the authorities [should] confiscate them and the funds could be used in many ways.

“Firstly, the fund can be used to compensate for the damages on the victims. Secondly, as an incentive to law enforcement officers who are active in their jobs. And finally, we can use the funds to continue our battle against narcotics ... to build a medical centre, for instance.” Yuthea told The Post on Sunday.

Meas Sovann, the executive director of the Drug Addict Relief Association of Cambodia, expressed his support for Sar Kheng’s directive.

“It is a good i nit iat ive to f reeze t he a sset s u nt i l we deter mi ne whet her or not they had been procured illega l ly. Minister Sa r Kheng is right,” he said.

The NACD previously reported that as of June 4, there were 7,294 people who had been arrested by the authorities due to drug-related offences.

Of t he number, it added, 3,973 were dea lers a nd had been sent to court, while 3,321 ot hers were users a nd had been admitted to t he rehabilitat ion centres.

T h ree Chi nese nat iona ls were held at the Phnom Penh I nter nat iona l A i r por t l a s t week a f ter hav i ng t ravel led f r o m Hon g K o n g w i t h $ 900,000 in cash.

The latest instance added to the spate of recent arrests at Cambodian airports of travellers with large amounts of cash from unknown sources.

Ea rl ier t h is mont h, Siem Reap aut hor it ies det a i ned t wo South Korean nationa ls for br i nging i n $ 2.2 mil l ion t hroug h t he prov i ncia l a i rport. They had a lso travelled from Hong Kong.

In April, three Chinese men were held after t hey attempted to smuggle $ 3.52 million to be a llegedly laundered in the Kingdom.