A 24-year-old Cambodian man was arrested and 20kg of methamphetamine seized in a cross-border drugs bust on Wednesday. Police
A 24-year-old Cambodian man was arrested and 20kg of methamphetamine seized in a cross-border drugs bust on Wednesday. The methamphetamine was brought into Cambodia from Thailand via the An Ses border Checkpoint in Preah Vihear province on Wednesday.
A National Police report said its chief Neth Savoeun, Deputy National Police chief Mok Chito, who is in charge of anti-drug crimes, and National Police anti-drug department director Loek Vannak ordered special police forces to crack down on transnational drug trafficking in Preah Vihear province.
Vannak said on Wednesday evening, a special force from the anti-drug department, in collaboration with police experts from the Preah Vihear Provincial Police Commissariat and the Preah Vihear Provincial Court prosecutor, cracked down on the case at the An Ses border Checkpoint in An Ses village, Choam Ksan commune, in Choam Ksan district.
“As a result of this operation, the anti-drug department police forces arrested a 24-year-old Cambodian man and seized 20kg of methamphetamine,” he said.
Long Sam Oeun, the Preah Vihear provincial deputy police chief in charge of anti-drug offences, led the crackdown.
He said on Thursday that the suspect has been sent to the Preah Vihear provincial police headquarters for questioning and further legal proceeding before he is sent to court.
“The suspect is still being questioned at the Preah Vihear provincial police headquarters. We are probing him further to ascertain the identity of the ringleader who is his boss. We are using our inquiry procedures to target his accomplices,” he said.
Sam Oeun said the suspect was a resident of An Ses village in Choam Ksan commune. But he retrieved the drugs from a dealer at the border, whose boss is a Lao national.
“We carried out surveillance for three days before identifying the suspect and arresting him. Based on our inquiries, the suspect received the drugs directly from the Lao boss.
“When questioned, the suspect said his boss was in Laos, but we suspect that his ringleader is inside the Kingdom and staying in the border area. We are investigating further,” he said.
A National Police report said that in just over 11 months of the year, the anti-drug police seized nearly 676kg of drugs and arrested nearly 20,000 suspects, 30 per cent of whom were drug users.
