Arrest for drug-related offences and arrests of foreign nationals dipped from 2011 to 2012 in Phnom Penh, according to two new reports from the Phnom Penh Municipal Police obtained by the Post yesterday.

The capital’s police arrested a total of 491 people for drug production, trafficking, distribution and use in 2012, following 202 separate investigations — a decrease of 146 cases from 2011, the report says.

Deputy Phnom Penh Municipal Police chief Pen Rath attributed the decrease to his department’s hard work over the past year.

“We have established networks and have co-operated with people and all levels of  concerned authorities,” Rath said yesterday. 

“This is a big success and a proud example of what our police have done for the people in Phnom Penh.”

According to the report, the majority of drug-related crackdowns targeted people involved in drug supply and distribution networks.

A total of 332 people were arrested for drug production, trafficking and dealing, and 159 arrested for drug use.

During the year, police seized five types of drugs  —  methamphetamine powder, meth pills (yama), MDMA, heroin and ketamine —  totalling 35.6 kilograms and 10,026 tablets, as well as 123kg of safrole oil, 11 scales, three cars, 75 motorbikes, 142 mobile phones, a pistol and various other materials.  

Mom Sitha, chief of Phnom Penh’s Foreign Police, said yesterday the number of foreigners arrested in the city had also decreased between 2011 and 2012, although he could not specify by how much.

The majority of the year’s 252 arrests of foreign nationals related to online gambling and extortion, with 189 Chinese, Indonesian and Malaysian nationals arrested (and generally deported) for suspected involvement in such activities, according to the new municipal report on foreign nationals’ infractions.

 

To contact the reporter on this story: Buth Reaksmey Kongkea at [email protected]