The driver of a pickup truck loaded with timber and bearing the logo of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Bodyguard Unit (BHQ) was stopped and fined by Forestry Administration (FA) officers in Siem Reap on Wednesday.

The truck contained seven logs from Preah Vihear when it was stopped in Prasat Bakong district. Tea Kimsoth, the provincial forestry director, said the driver was not arrested because his haul was not big enough to qualify as a serious violation.

“I got a report from the officers that the car carried a logo of the bodyguard unit. Some people just put someone else’s name [on vehicles or their registration documents] to make them seem powerful, so we dare not arrest them,” Kimsoth said.

“It was not rosewood, so the driver was not detained,” he added.

The wood was intended for house construction, he said. Attempts to contact the bodyguard unit were unsuccessful.

Separately, military police in Stung Treng detained two cars with 223 logs of timber from Sesan district on Tuesday. Officers referred the case along with the timber and cars to the provincial court. The drivers escaped.