Police seized more than 74 tonnes of chemicals believed to be used in the production of drugs in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district on Tuesday, in the process arresting five Chinese nationals for illegally importing the substances, police said yesterday.  

According to Brigadier General Long Sreng, deputy chief of the anti-economic crime department at the Ministry of Interior, male suspects Chang Kourling, An Chianhuao, Haing Ping and Chi Haything, and female suspect Yan Vavshi Kry were picked up during a warehouse raid in Por Sen Chey’s Chom Chao commune.

In the raid, he added, police seized a total of 74.28 tonnes of suspected liquid precursor chemicals, which are being held by the Ministry of Interior for further investigation.

“These people were preliminarily charged by our police with importing illegal drug elements to Cambodia without authorisation,” said Sreng. “They will be sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to get their official charges on Thursday afternoon.”

Brigadier General Sok Chour, deputy director of the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Drug Department, said that the exact type of chemicals had not yet been determined.

“Anti-drug police experts are still working on it. There is no result yet,” he said.