Authorities nab suspected drug smugglers and seized more than 1,000 kilogrammes of ice



Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

Military police in Preah Vihear province yesterday arrested two men suspected of transporting more than 1,000 kilogrammes of methamphetamines (ice) from Laos into Cambodia.

Lieutenant Colonel Duong Sarith, the Deputy Commander of Preah Vihear Provincial Military Police, told Khmer Times yesterday that the two suspects, one the driver and owner of the car previously seized by the authorities and the other his worker, were arrested on Monday in Chey Sen district located next to the Cambodia-Laos border. 

Lt Col Sarith said that they were arrested following an earlier incident when the suspects abandoned the car near a forest and fled into the undergrowth to escape pursuing Military Police who had spotted the suspicious looking vehicle driving along the border at night on January 20. After searching the abandoned car, police found more than one tonne of ice.



The suspects are believed to be the ringleaders of a drug gang and had been at large since fleeing the scene of the January 20 incident.

After their arrest and questioning by the Military Police, the duo along with the seized drugs were sent to the Preah Vihear Provincial Court for further questioning.


Lt Col Sarith added that the suspects were identified as Moeun Sakravy, 42; and Van Moeung, 24. They both were accused of “drug transport and trafficking” under Article 40 of Cambodia’s Law on Drugs Control and each face up to life in prison.




Chum Kaniya, the Chief of Secretariat of Administration Department at the Preah Vihear Provincial Court, confirmed yesterday that the two suspects are still being question by the Provincial Prosecutor. 

However, Kaniya declined to provide further details about the case as it was still under investigation.

According to a Military Police report, at midnight on January 20, Military Police in Preah Vihear province cracked down on a group of men suspected of smuggling drugs across the Cambodia-Laos border and seized more than 1,000 kilogrammes of ice and a SUV from the group in Sen Chey district.

While driving the car on the Cambodian side of the border, the group was spotted by the Provincial Military Police who patrol the area.

The authorities pursued the suspects, but they abandoned the car near the forest behind the Military Police post and fled into the undergrowth then across the border. 

Military Police inspected the abandoned car and seized more than one thousand big packages weighing a total of 1, 020 kilogrammes of methamphetamine.


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