Cambodia News (Siem Reap Province): According to a Facebook post by Minister of Information, Kheiv Kanhareth, the Banteay Srey forest rangers raided a Vireak Buntham delivery truck, (Phnom Penh F7232), and they discovered 984 wild geckos hidden in 2 iceboxes that were smuggled from Preah Vihear to Siem Reap province on National Road 67.

The identity of the deliveryman was not disclosed, but the driver and the truck were held in custody for further investigation.

Transport firm Vireak Buntham say that they are not at fault, and that the stop and search was an attempted shakedown by the forestry authorities. The competent officials have denied this.

Firm says not at fault over geckos
Khouth Sophak Chakrya | Publication date 18 August 2021 | 21:32 ICT


Officers from the Banteay Srey Forestry Administration in Siem Reap province on August 17 seized nearly 1,000 geckos that were being transported by a truck belonging to transportation company Virak Buntham. The officials demanded that the company pay a fine of $30,000 but they refused, saying the geckos belonged to a customer and their staff was unaware they were on board.

According to Virak Buntham owner Sour Virak, the incident took place when one of his company’s trucks reached Siem Reap after travelling through Mondulkiri, Stung Treng and Preah Vihear on its way to Preah Sihanouk province.

When it arrived in Siem Reap’s Bakong district, the officials stopped the truck and checked two cases in the cargo area underneath where they found 984 geckos.

Virak said the geckos were loaded onto the truck in Preah Vihear province by a customer sending them as freight and his staff was unaware of the cases’ contents.

“After they found the [geckos], the Forestry Administration officials demanded that the company pay a fine of $30,000 in exchange for the release of the truck, but we refused because the geckos are not ours.

“We cooperated with the authorities by providing the contact information given for the sender and receiver of the package and we gave them the receipt,” Virak said, adding that the official told the company to find and arrest the sender to avoid the fine.

Virak said he believed that the amount of money being demanded and the suggestion that his company somehow apprehend the sender of the packages – an implausible, impractical and possibly illegal course of action for a private transport company to undertake – may indicate that the entire incident was a scheme hatched by the officials and an attempted shakedown.

Bu Ly Sopha, deputy chief of the Banteay Srey Forestry Administration which also oversees Bakong district, rejected the accusation that his officials demanded the money in exchange for the release of the truck.

He said he stopped the bus because his officers had found that the bus was loaded with heavy goods and they suspected that it might be illegally transporting luxury timber.

“When we checked, we did not see timber but we saw two cases that appeared to be leaking water. We suspected they contained wildlife and we asked them to open the cases and we found 984 geckos,” he said.

The Forestry Administration officials impounded the bust and said will hold it in impound (sic) until its owner pays the fine.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... ver-geckos

Too small to make handbags out of it.
What was the point of 1000 dead geckos, sell them for soup, or medecine, or what else ?

"Competent forestry authorities", that's a good one, looking at the state of it.
" Aware but unable to" seems a better fit.

66 Kgs of Trafficked Geckos Seized From Vehicle in Siem Reap
2 min read
Keat Soriththeavy
| Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:03 pm

Nine-hundred-eighty-four geckos being shipped out of Preah Vihear province were rescued from a vehicle in Siem Reap, according to officials, who said they had cracked down on gecko trafficking before but didn’t know its purpose.

Mong Bun Lim, an administrator at Siem Reap’s Forestry Administration, said officers had seized two boxes being delivered from Preah Vihear with about 66 kilograms of geckos, and impounded the vehicle at the local forestry office. The transport company would be fined under the Forestry Law, he said.

“No one would answer where they want to take the geckos, and what the goal for those animals were. They might be eaten, made into medicine or exported somewhere,” Bun Lim said.

An administrator for the Agriculture Ministry in Siem Reap, Tea Kim Soth, also said he did not know the direction that the contraband was headed after Siem Reap.
https://vodenglish.news/66-kg-of-traffi ... siem-reap/

Truck on its way to pre Sihanouk that explains it. How many other trucks have not been stopped?

Ah, so, traditional medecine for Chineses i guess.
Way to siphon what's available.
Hopefully they don't need any other local ressources, 'cause they don't seem to be too careful about sustainability.
Or am i late ?

Can someone remind me why this company is still allowed to operate?

Khmer_Risotto wrote:Can someone remind me why this company is still allowed to operate?

I was just about to ask the same thing. Thieving, constant accidents and now wildlife trafficking. Jesus...

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 7:44 am

Khmer_Risotto wrote:Can someone remind me why this company is still allowed to operate?

I was just about to ask the same thing. Thieving, constant accidents and now wildlife trafficking. Jesus...

And this is not the first time they've been busted for trafficking wildlife. Looks like it's been going on for years.
Mr Vireak must have some clout.
newsworthy/virak-buntham-buses-raided-w ... 16470.html