National military police and district police on Tuesday morning seized a truck loaded with 2 cubic metres of wood and 657 planks of second-grade luxury timber in Kampong Speu’s Thpong district and arrested the 28-year-old man driving it.

Thpong district military police commander Chhorn Sokhun said the joint operation resulted in the arrest of Thy Chhea. He was found transporting the wood in Omlaing commune on National Road 44.

“We already handed the man, the truck and the wood to the Forestry Administration,” Sokhun said. This was the first such crackdown in his district this year, he added.

Chea Hean, head of the Natural Resources and Wildlife Preservation Organisation, said there are still numerous forest crimes occurring inside the Phnom Kravanh Wildlife Sanctuary based on recent patrols his organisation has conducted. The sanctuary covers a few provinces, including Kampong Speu.

Hean claimed police only crack down on small-scale illegal loggers, while they “don’t dare to crack down” on larger scale operations backed by the powerful.