Over 3 tonnes of contaminated prahok – made of fish illegally imported from Vietnam – were confiscated on Friday by Takeo authorities from some of the same sites that in September had already been warned to stop using smuggled fish.

Pao Leangkong, chief of the Takeo branch of import inspector Camcontrol, said the raid was led by deputy prosecutor Phan Sopheak and took place at production sites in Prey Touk village in Traing district.

The fermented fish paste was contaminated with formaldehyde, a common embalming agent, and the sites were also found to be unhygienic and unlicensed. “They don’t listen,” he said. “Those are the same old compounds.”

In September, more than 180 kilos of contaminated prahok were confiscated from four different sites in Traing district after it was found the fish used had been smuggled from Vietnam, a practice the sites were warned to stop. Authorities today will ask the prosecutor for permission to burn the prahok from the recent raid.

Three people from two production sites were called in for questioning by the prosecutor, but Sopheak couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday.