A standoff took place yesterday between a drug trafficking suspect and police in Phnom Penh, which left one officer seriously injured and one suspect in custody.

As police ramp up drug raids throughout the country to comply after an ultimatum issued by top police officials, anti-drug police officers pursued a “powerful” drug trafficking suspect just after midnight from Phnom Penh’s Prampi Makara district to Dangkor district where they arrested him.

The suspect allegedly drove his luxury car over a police officer’s motorbike when they tried to stop him. He later ran away as officers opened fire on him.

Khieu Samon, acting director of the National Authority for Combating Drugs at the Ministry of Interior, said that 41-year-old officer Chhun Sopha sustained serious injuries to his left leg and shoulder after the suspect attempted to run him over, before police arrested him.

“We arrested a man along Sola street in Dangkor who was [allegedly] trafficking drugs.”

On Tuesday, National Police chief Neth Savoeun issued a one-month ultimatum for police officials to rigorously target drug trafficking and abuse  across the country or face the loss of their positions.