The Phnom Penh Municipal Court is questioning four suspects for allegedly impersonating anti-drug police and extorting money from people. The suspects were sent to court by the National Police’s Anti-Drug Department on June 20.
The Ministry of Interior’s anti-drug department deputy director In Song told The Post on June 20 that the four suspects could face charges of illegal confinement or kidnapping people to extort money, but it was up to the court to decide on the official charges.
He added that the four suspects, aged 31 to 35, had impersonated police and arrested drug addicts as well as innocent people in Phnom Penh who had nothing to do with drug offences.
The department said in a report on June 17 that they had cooperated with local authorities to arrest the four impersonators in Prey Veng commune in the capital’s Dangkor district after receiving complaints from people that the suspects had extorted money from them several times.
During the operation, officers seized a car, two motorcycles, a rubber pistol, a walkie-talkie, two sets of police uniforms and other documents of the sort used by the anti-drug police.
Municipal court spokesperson Plang Sophal said the court were still questioning the suspects and verifying their actions before charging them.
