Laotian drug traffickers arrested
STUNG TRENG provincial anti-drug trafficking police are set to send two Laotians to the provincial court on January 18 for allegedly trafficking 46kg of illegal drugs.
Provincial Anti-Drug Bureau chief Chem Phanith said the two Laotian men aged 28 and 29 were arrested in the early hours of January 15 at a border checkpoint in Borei O’Svay Sen Chey district’s O’Svay commune. Police searched them and discovered 46 packages of methamphetamines weighing a total of 46kg.
“They will be sent to the provincial court on Monday morning [ January 18] to begin legal proceedings,” he said.
According to Phanith, a group of six people are suspected of being involved in the case, but four of them managed to escape into Laos when they were stopped by the border police that night.
Deputy National Police chief in charge of anti-drug enforcement Mak Chito said Cambodian and Laotian authorities are working together to search for the four suspects.
“The two Laotians confessed that they are part of a new group [of drug traffickers] with a ringleader in the golden triangle region and a small network in Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
“This group’s network is also likely present in Cambodia given that we caught them here,” he said.
Chito called on Cambodians to abstain from using any illegal drugs and never to involve themselves in drug crimes.
He called on the public to report to the authorities when they are aware of drug crimes taking place so that police can intervene. Drug abuse, he said, negatively affects one’s health and family life as well as negatively impacting the economy and society.
According to the National Police, at least 32 people were apprehended nationwide on January 16 alone for activity involving 11 different drug cases. Half of those 32 were drug traffickers and half were drug users.
Police confiscated 9.29g and 50 small packages of methamphetamine as evidence in the 11 cases.