Forestry officials in Kratie province’s Sambor district on Wednesday confiscated six cubic metres of illegal timber found by villagers on a riverbank deep in the forest, authorities said yesterday.

Seng Darun, chief of a local forestry office in Sambor, said that locals had immediately contacted his office upon finding the 35 pieces of luxury timber about a kilometre from Kbal Damrei commune, one of the four communes in the district overseen by Darun.

Officials seized the wood the same day, he added.

“The timber was logged in Preah Vihear, and taken on boats to hide in the forest in Sambor at night,” Darun said. “We know timber is sometimes transported on boats, but it is difficult to crack down [on them].”

“It is easy to confiscate it when it’s gathered at one place on land.”

The logs must have come from Preah Vihear, Darun reasoned, because there is no luxury timber growing in Sambor. There have been no arrests over the wood so far, and forestry officials are searching for the owner of the timber.