Cambodia, the UN and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) co-organised a five-day training workshop from May 2-6 to strengthen the skills of 50 Cambodian law enforcement officers on money laundering investigations, especially as they relate to drug trafficking.

The workshop was opened in the presence of Meas Vyrith, secretary-general of the General Secretariat of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), AFP representative Anthony Maguire and David Frend, representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

It is also attended by Lili Sang, programme coordinator of signatories to the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries and Cambodian law enforcement officers.

Lim Tong Huot, the director of the NACD’s Legislation, Education and Rehabilitation Department, said on May 2 that the main purpose of the workshop was to identify money laundering and anti-money laundering mechanisms, such as money from drug trafficking.

Maguire and Frend said at the workshop that it had highlighted the importance of Cambodian law enforcement officers’ awareness of money laundering crimes – and how to investigate them, punish criminals and seize assets.

Vyrith thanked the UN and AFP for their cooperation in helping Cambodia.

“This workshop has improved the skill sets of our police officers. Cambodia has been striving to improve its effectiveness in combating money laundering and considers the investigation of these crimes as a key task for our law enforcement officers,” he said.

He instructed all of the participants to take what they had learned and apply it to conducting their own research and investigations.