The Takeo provincial anti-drug bureau sent a man to the Takeo Provincial Court on Wednesday after he was arrested on Monday in Preah Bat Chonchum commune, Kiri Vong district, for cultivating marijuana.

Bureau director Mak Serey Vathana said on Tuesday that Van Lim, 64, was residing in Chroy village and growing marijuana.

Police officers sent the man to court on Wednesday after the completion of questioning and legal case filings, he said.

The suspect cultivated marijuana in his cornfield, planting it in between corn on 500 to 600sqm, he said. Police destroyed all of the marijuana plants.

Serey Vathana said the suspect grew the marijuana along with his other crops, thinking that the police were unaware of it.

He said the police confiscated 15.05kg of dry marijuana, 35kg of fresh marijuana and a scale.

Cambodians, he said, began cultivating and smoking marijuana a long time ago, but it is illegal under the law.

Serey Vathana also said that in Kiri Vong district, many suspects had evaded capture in the past but police were this time able to catch one.

He said marijuana plants are often planted near mountains or in valleys or remote areas where police cannot reach them.

“Most growers farm marijuana not on private land, but mostly on state land, so it is easy to flee before police arrive,” he said.

Last year, he said police cut down marijuana plants in 157 locations and added that cultivation of marijuana is quick as yields take from one to four months.