Pursat authorities are searching for the perpetrators behind a stash of nearly 200 logs of luxury wood discovered and confiscated by authorities on Monday in Phnom Kravanh district, an official said yesterday.

Chan Sokha, district Military Police commander, said his officials spotted the piles of thnong wood in Phteah Rong commune. After carrying out an inspection, his officials collaborated with Forestry Administration officials and local police to seize 195 illegal logs.

“We did not see anyone or the owner of the timber, so we just seized it,” Sokha said, adding that officials were searching for the owner.

The timber was being held at the district Forestry Administration’s office, he said.

In a separate incident in Pursat’s Veal Veng district, Military Police last Wednesday stopped a truck loaded with 18 cubic metres of first-grade timber. Officials confiscated the illicit wood and truck, according to a statement from district Military Police released yesterday.

According to Pan Morakort, director of the Provincial Environment Department, the driver escaped, but the truck and the timber were impounded at Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary.