Over 12,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in 47 different locations by authorities in Takeo province on Monday after villagers stumbled upon the illegal crop in the mountains and along a lake. Kiri Vong District Police Chief Yuth Sarath said yesterday that several villagers reported finding hundreds of marijuana plants while foraging for honey.

Upon receiving the report, more than 20 police officials headed to the site on Monday afternoon, discovering 12,813 cannabis plants. "All those marijuana plants have been burned down at the area, and now our authorities are trying to identify the suspects to take legal action against them," he said.

Sarath added that the cultivation of cannabis was banned following the enactment of the Law on Drug Management. "However, villagers in this commune have grown such plants in their own field for family use, and also for illegal sale to Vietnam and Phnom Penh," he said.

According to Sarath, district police destroyed a total of 134,886 marijuana plants at three different locations and confiscated 272 kilograms of dried marijuana in the first half of the year.