Two men were arrested and charged on Sunday with smuggling more than 2,000 kilograms of luxury-grade rosewood from Kampong Thom to Siem Reap town, anti-crime officials said yesterday.

Thanh Ti, 21, and Viet Thy Thanh, 19, were caught manning a truck transferring 2,400 kilograms of rosewood hidden underneath bags of cooking powder, according to Soeun Sen, provincial anti-economic crime police chief.

“We were acting on a tip from villagers when we found the rosewood,” Sen said yesterday, adding that both suspects were charged by the Siem Reap Provincial Court on the same day.

In another case involving illegal logging in the past week, two cubic metres of luxury wood being delivered to a private residence in Oddar Meanchey were intercepted by provincial authorities on Saturday.

Two trucks with licence plates connected to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces were confiscated at the residence of a man believed to be an RCAF officer, Pheng said yesterday.

“He was intoxicated, so we were tolerant of him and did not take legal action against him,” Pheng added.