ONE police officer was killed and two others were severely injured during a shootout with suspected drug smugglers in Battambang province’s Phnom Prek district on Tuesday.

Officer Meng Thy, 35, was shot dead and Korng Sophanna, 24, and Soun Keo, 50, were wounded in a crackdown that police said netted three members of a notorious gang.

“We were successful in arresting the masterminds of this group, who always sell drugs in the three villages of Phnom Prek district, but we are very sad that two police officers were seriously hurt and one was killed,” said Sareth Viseth, deputy police chief of Phnom Prek district.

The three arrested were a husband and wife – 35-year-old Phen Kouy and 29-year-old Lay Malen – and an unidentified man. All are due in court today. Police seized a handgun, a car and 1,132 yama tablets at the scene. Two members of the gang escaped and are still at large, police said.