Police arrested 80 people in two Phnom Penh raids over the weekend for allegedly smoking the flavoured tobacco product shisha, which was banned in Cambodia early last year, police said yesterday.

Brigadier General San Suthy, deputy chief of the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Drug Police Department, said that 50 youths were arrested in a raid on the Sahara Club in Chamkarmon district on Friday night.

In the raid, police located and seized 20 pipes for smoking shisha and two samurai swords.

The suspects were later released after signing contracts foreswearing future shisha use.

“We now are seeking to arrest the owners of the club, who have escaped, because they have violated the regulation of the head of government,” he said.

Last February, authorities cracked down on shisha nationwide after Prime Minister Hun Sen called for “urgent” action to ban the substance.