Military Police seize 884kg ketamine in Sihanoukville on December 11. GRK
More than 10 suspects are being questioned by the Preah Sihanouk provincial Military Police in relation to the nearly 900kg of Ketamine that was discovered in a rented warehouse in Commune 1’s Village 2 of Sihanoukville and province on December 11.
National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) secretary-general Meas Vyrith told The Post on December 19 that the authorities had made several arrests. Evidence was still being gathered in the case, but he expected more arrests to follow.
“We have taken more than ten suspects into custody, and are continuing to identify more persons of interest. Our investigation needs to be very thorough, as we are wary of prosecuting the wrong individuals. The present suspects are a mix of Cambodian nationals and foreigners,” he said.
He said the case had expanded beyond the original discovery, as subsequent investigations had uncovered several other drug operations in the town. As these cases are ongoing, he was not prepared to share more details.
Vyrith said criminals organisations appeared to be using Cambodia as transit point for trafficking operations, meaning the drugs were likely bound for a third location, presumably a developed country.
He said the military police rarely seized such large quantities of drugs, which was why this case required such extensive investigation. An operation of this size was almost certainly linked to money laundering, and exhaustive enquiries would be required to uncover the people behind it.
“Criminals use the Cambodian coastline as a way of trafficking their shipments internationally, as checkpoints and customs officers are easily avoided,” he added.
“In order to solve a case of this size and root out the people behind it, we are working closely with our counterparts in neighbouring countries. We also need to identify the planned destination of the shipment,” he concluded.
Following the huge Ketamine seizure in Preah Sihanouk, Minister of Interior Sar Kheng called for a thorough investigation.
“If we capture nearly 900kg of drugs but fail to capture the people behind it, we should not consider our mission a success. The relevant authorities must work to identify the source of the drugs and prosecute the people responsible,” he said.
