The Phnom Penh Post

Ousted anti-drug czar Moek Dara served as a trusted source for United States embassy officials in Phnom Penh, according to an American diplomatic cable released by the transparency organisation WikiLeaks, raising questions about the quality of intelligence available to diplomats and development organisations.

In the 2006 cable, the first from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh released by WikiLeaks, Moek Dara and an unnamed official from the World Health Organisation offer accounts of Cambodia’s drug enforcement and prevention efforts. Moek Dara served as secretary general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs before being arrested earlier this month, standing accused of heading up a ring of corrupt officials involved in extortion and drug trafficking.

Citing Moek Dara, the American cable touts a “dramatic increase in heroin and [amphetamine-type stimulant] seizures and drug arrests”. Credit for these achievements, the NACD secretary general reportedly said, was due in large measure to counternarcotics training sessions for Cambodian officials led by the US State Department and Drug Enforcement Administration.

“While increased smuggling activity may account for some of the increased seizures and arrests, it is clear that the Cambodian government is turning up the heat on the country’s drug smugglers,” the cable concludes. “Training from the [US government] and other countries is playing a critical role in supporting this effort.”