Phnom Penh: At 08:20 pm, on July 12, 2018, 2 suspects were arrested for drug trafficking in Sangkat Chom Chao2, Khan Por Sen Chey, Phnom Penh. One was found with 20 packets of methamphetamine ready for sale, the other had only four. One of suspects was 25 years old, but the other one was only 15.

After the arrest, the 2 suspects were taken to the police station to prepare their cases to submit to the court.

Phnom Penh Police Work on Drug Prevention

It is encouraging to see that Cambodian police are tackling drug prevention, as well as practicing repression.
Phnom Penh police visited Preah Ponlea Village, Sangkat Prek Praa, Khan Chbar Ampov in Phnom Penh today, 11 August 2018, to deliver a drug information campaign. They were warning about the dangers of taking drugs, but were also explaining that drug treatment is available for addicts and informing families how to seek help.

Sihanoukville police have also been ordered to work on drug prevention through information.

Sihanoukville, Cambodia news: On the afternoon of August 23, 2018, police held a drug prevention information lecture in the Bronze Kingdom karaoke bar in sanghat 4, Sihanoukville. Brigadier General Sun Sophot, who received the plan against drug crime, said that Major General Chuon Narin, the Police Commissioner of Preah Sihanouk province, has ordered provincial anti-drug police to educate the public about the effects of drug abuse.

85 karaoke staff members attended the police program at the karaoke bar, where police warned them of the dangers of taking drugs, and reminded them that it is against the law.

The national drug program continues, with authorities distributing thousands of educational anti-drug posters and drug-testing devices to hotels, KTVs and nightclubs.
(They say that they are also distributing electronic scales, but it is unclear what that is supposed to prevent.)

NACD distributes anti-drug posters to Kingdom hotels
28 August 2018
The National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) distributed a range of paraphernalia to the Anti-Drug Department and 25 provisional and municipal police stations to combat drug proliferation in the country.

The materials including 27 electronic scales, 15,000 drug testing devices and 1,000 posters and stickers promoting awareness on the risks of using narcotics, were handed to the relevant officials.

NACD secretary-general Meas Virith said yesterday that about 200 police officials participated at the handover ceremony which was held on August 24.

As part of the campaign, he said, posters were distributed to guesthouses, hotels and entertainment centres to educate guests and patrons not to commit crimes, such as trafficking and consuming drugs.

Virith also urged the authorities to strictly implement the law to stem the use of narcotics such as ecstasy and marijuana in entertainment outlets.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... dom-hotels

Cambodian Police Cracks Down on 5,600 Drug Cases in First Nine Months
28/09/18 12:06

Phnom Penh (FN), Sept. 28 - Within the first nine months of 2018, anti-drug police cracked down on 6,200 drug offenses, arrested 11,000 including 944 female, according to the anti-drug campaign’s report in September 2018.

The report added that police confiscated nearly 500 kg and 790 packages of drugs and dried and fresh marijuana.
=FRESH NEWS

Cambodia arrests 14,488 drug suspects in 11 months
Source:Xinhua Published: 2018/12/1 18:04:47

Cambodian authorities had arrested 14,488 illicit drug suspects in 7,229 cases during the first eleven months of 2018, said an Interior Ministry's anti-drug department report on Saturday.

Some 8,222 suspects were involved in drug trafficking and 6,266 were related to drug use, the report said, adding that 242 of them are foreigners in 18 nationalities.

The report said that over 524 kilos of drugs, including heroin, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine pills and ketamine, were confiscated from the suspects during the January-November period this year.

In the entirety of 2017, the Southeast Asian country caught 17,795 drug suspects in 8,173 cases, seizing nearly 300 kilos of illicit drugs.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1129843.shtml

CEO News comment on the 2018 crackdown: There are so many methamphetamine busts featured in the Khmer media, that most of the time we don't report them here anymore. The police have been cracking down harder and making more arrests, which is good, but they are mainly arresting soft targets, small time drug users and dealers. The amount of arrests is rising, but so, it seems, is the amount of methamphetamine in circulation in Cambodia. (See the above articles for drug arrest statistics.)
Other alarming news is the continuing rise of methamphetamine use in rural areas; notably the 'drug trail' down the Mekong from the Laos border to Phnom Penh, which is littered with small Cambodian villages where jobless youth and toothless grannies alike are now selling meth.


Here's Lim Sreymom, who was arrested yesterday. She is 39 years old, and she is one meth addict among the thousands arrested this year.

Sadly, the people running the drug trade are untouchable, and unless the very highest Cambodian authorities make an effort to curb their greedy comrades, Cambodia will continue to suffer from the meth scourge, leading to more poverty, more violence, more prostitution, more insecurity, and more domestic violence, broken families, and children left without parents or sold for drug money. The longterm outlook is pessimistic.

Cambodia arrests over 16,000 drug-related suspects in 2018
By Xinhua Net -
January 2, 2019

Phnom Penh – Cambodian authorities arrested 16,232 illicit drug suspects in 8,018 cases in 2018, said an Interior Ministry’s anti-drug department report on Tuesday.

Some 9,099 suspects were involved in drug trafficking and 7,133 were related to drug use, the report said, adding that 310 of them are foreigners in 24 nationalities.

In full: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-0 ... 712275.htm