I must admit that I don't know much about this. Is it another "natural" traditional substance like coca or opium that is being refined to feed international drug habits ?

Drug Factory Found by Students

Members of the Environment and Natural Resources Student Network, which is made up of students from six universities, found a factory processing an indigenous vine believed to be used in the production of narcotics in Koh Kong province last week.

According to an announcement yesterday, the students had been inspecting areas in Thma Bang district for signs of drug manufacturing when they came across the 100-hectare site in the Phdach Chivit valley.

“The Student Network appeals to the government to take action and prevent every yellow vine business from operating anymore, especially in protected areas,” they said.

The announcement said that the site appears to have been in use within the last three months and is about two kilometers from the district office. Patrolled by armed guards, the site employed numerous laborers to dissolve the locally grown yellow vines, known as voer romiet in Khmer, in 37 iron vats.

The site also contains a warehouse and living quarters.

In addition to voicing their concerns about the production of drugs in Cambodia, the network’s statement also warned that the facility posed a grave environmental danger to the area.

Waste chloride and hydrogen peroxide used in the extraction process was being allowed to seep into the ground, they said, and there were piles of salt as well, another apparent production ingredient.

The legal status of yellow vine production in Cambodia is unclear. It has long been used in traditional medicine and until recently collection licenses were issued to companies by the Ministry of Agriculture to harvest the vine to produce medicine.

The 2002 Forestry Law banned the creation of processing factories large enough to cause environmental damage and article 97 sets a maximum sentence of 10 years for those convicted of causing such damage.

A 2006 sub-decree made it illegal to export the vines or their processed powder.

Despite this, in 2013 powerful tycoon Try Pheap was awarded a permit to open a factory near the Stung Tatai hydropower site, on the condition that he did not damage the environment.

Secretary-general Lor Rasmey, who signed the permit, could not be reached yesterday to confirm the current legal status of vine harvesting and if there were any other existing licenses.

While the vine is legally used as a component in products ranging from cosmetics to toothpaste, many believe its production is heavily controlled by drug gangs, as the processed vine has a chemical compound nearly identical to known narcotic MDMA.

Environmental activist Chut Wutty was murdered in 2013 after taking two journalists to investigate illegal logging operations and yellow vine processing in the province...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/32304/ ... -students/

Ministry Asks Governor to Close Yellow Vine Factory
The Environment Ministry has asked Koh Kong provincial governor Bun Leut to stop construction of a factory which will process an indigenous vine and which plans to collect the yellow vine in a protected forest area.

According to an official letter sent to Mr. Leut dated Thursday and signed by Environment Minister Say Samal, the ministry found that Jinyian Huanglian Trading and Chhay Ching Heang Group were in the process of constructing a factory to process yellow vine and planned to collect the vine in a protected area.

The letter was issued after the ministry was given information on the issue and sent officials to inspect the factory under construction in Koh Kong’s Thma Bang district.

Mr. Samal said that processing the indigenous vine was illegal and against the laws governing protected areas and forests. Collecting and processing the yellow vine would have a serious impact on the environment, society, biodiversity and the ecology system in the region, he said.

On Tuesday, members of the Environment and Natural Resources Student Network, which is made up of students from six universities, found a factory processing an indigenous vine believed to be used in the production of narcotics in Koh Kong province.

The students had been inspecting areas in Thma Bang district for signs of drug manufacturing when they came across the 100-hectare site in the Phdach Chivit valley.

The group said the site appeared to have been in use within the last three months and is about two kilometers from the district office. Patrolled by armed guards, the site employed numerous laborers to dissolve the locally grown yellow vines, known as voer romiet in Khmer, in 37 iron vats...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/32439/ ... e-factory/

Some info relating to Yellow Vine below:
Extract from page 53.

Vohr Romiet
Scientific Name:Coscinium usitatum Pierre
Family: Menispermaceae
Khmer Name(s): Vohr Romiet Kraham, Vohr Romiet Sar and Vohr Romiet Thom

Conservation Status:This species is part of a species complex along with Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr that is widespread within continental tropical Asia from India to Cambodia and Lao PDR. It is not listed in the CITES Appendices or the IUCN Red List. Commercial exploitation of this species is illegal in Cambodia.

Use and Production: This species is traditionally used as an analgesic and antipyretic. It contains a number of
alkaloids, notably berberine and palmatine, some of which have been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory
effects. The commercial extraction of berberine from this species complex is well documented in India and
Cambodia and such exploitation is making this species increasingly rare. Export from India is banned but permitted
from Lao PDR where cultivation of Coscinium usitatum for production purposes is practiced in some areas.

Unconfirmed reports concerning the end use of these alkaloids vary widely from anti-malarial and cosmetic
preparations to extracted alkaloids, possibly saponin, as a precursor in the manufacture of the illicit drug MDMA that
is also known as “ecstasy”. Once again, unconfirmed reports that extracts from this species are used in the
production of illicit drugs have attained an almost mythological status amongst some quarters in Phnom Penh.

Ashwell, D. and Walston, N. (2008).An overview of the use and trade of plants and animals in traditional medicine systems in Cambodia. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Greater Mekong Programme, Ha Noi,Viet Nam.http://www.trafficj.org/publication/08_ ... mbodia.pdf

Yellow Vine Processing Facility Shut Down in Koh Kong
by Ben Sokhean and Matt Surrusco | November 28, 2016

The Koh Kong provincial government shut down a yellow vine processing facility under construction in Thma Baing district over the weekend, following a request from the Ministry of Environment on Thursday, officials confirmed on Sunday.

In a letter to Environment Minister Say Sam Al earlier this month, environmental NGOs said the processing of the indigenous plant would pollute surface and underground water with the large quantities of sulfuric acid used in the manufacture of yellow vine powder, potentially destroying the “best intact forest in the Southern and Central Cardamom National Parks.”

Conservation International’s country director, Seng Bunra, said he had been surprised by the Agriculture Ministry’s letter permitting Chhay Ching Heang to collect yellow vine for one year starting at the end of next month.

“Yellow vine factories, historically, they always ban,” Mr. Bunra said, referring to various regulations, including a 2001 Agriculture Ministry proclamation that outlawed yellow vine processing and the 2002 Forestry Law, which bans the activity if it will cause environmental damage.

“The question is why the Ministry of Agriculture approved this,” Mr. Bunra said.

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/yell ... ng-121127/

Production site closed down by the authorities.


Huy Bunleng.

No big surprise here, but it seems clear that the closing of one of the "yellow vine" processing plants has more to do with who paid what to which ministry, than any real concern about environmental damage.

“The Ministry of Environment wishes to clarify that the processing of yellow vine is an activity that is against the law” on forests and protected areas, the letter says. “The collecting and processing of yellow vine will cause serious impacts to the environment, society, biodiversity resources and ecology systems in the area.”

While a 2001 Agriculture Ministry proclamation (or prakas) banned the “exploitation, purchasing, processing and transportation of yellow vine” outright, the 2002 Forestry Law permits yellow vine processing, as long as it does not “cause significant pollution or destruction to the forest ecosystem.”

Anyone who violates the law is subject to five to 10 years in prison.

While Chhay Ching Heang Group received permission to collect yellow vine in Russei Chrum, another company, Jiyian Huanglian Trading, has begun developing a processing site in the same commune, according to a letter from environmental groups Wildlife Alliance and Conservation International.

Provincial governor Bun Leut said Chhay Ching Heang was the only company permitted to operate in Thma Baing “to produce traditional medicine,” and that any other facilities may be illegal.

“We did not allow them. If they do this, it’s illegal because they do not have permission. We have to stop them,” Mr. Leut said, declining to elaborate.

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/one- ... ps-121046/

Yellow Vine Factory Closed

Officials from Koh Kong province’s environment department have confirmed that the construction of a yellow vine processing plant has been halted after a directive from the Environment Ministry.

Department chief Morn Phalla said that while the plant’s construction had ceased, factory equipment was on the site including a reservoir, a drainage system, excavators, six yellow vine cutters, a generator as well as chemicals used in the processing of yellow vine.

“We see that the company has suspended completely, but they have not taken out their equipment,” Mr. Phalla said...

http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/32688/ ... ry-closed/