The son-in-law of the Mondulkiri provincial governor was arrested by the national military police yesterday over allegations of hindering a crackdown on illegal logging. 

Kheng Tito, a National Military Police spokesman, told the Post that Thuy Chanthorn, 34, an assistant and son-in-law of provincial governor Chan Yoeun, had been arrested.

“We arrested him based on a citation that he was involved in preventing the authorities from subduing illegal logging,” he said.

Thuy Chanthorn was being detained in Phnom Penh and would be sent to court for questioning, he added.

A source, who declined to be named, told the Post that authorities had surrounded Chan Yoeun’s house, where Thuy Chanthorn had been hiding.

Thuy Chanthorn backed illegal logging and the trade in trees in the province, especially in Pech Chreada district’s Bousraa commune, he added.

Mondulkiri provincial governor Chan Yoeun said he did not know why his son-in-law had been arrested.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Yuthana at [email protected]