IN an effort to combat what officials say is a growing trend of teenagers renting rooms to hold “drug parties”, Daun Penh district Governor Sok Sambath warned guesthouse owners on Monday that failure to stop such gatherings would result in their businesses being shut down.

“As district governor, I will take strict measures against any guesthouse in my territory that rents out rooms to teenagers for the purpose of using drugs,” Sok Sambath announced.

The announcement follows a Friday night raid on the Sim Chhae Kim guesthouse in Srak Chork commune, also known as the Boeung Kak “lakeside” area, where Yim Socheat, former Daun Penh district governor and current head of the Phnom Penh municipal Anti-Drug Bureau, said that many of the offending guesthouses were located.

Yim Socheat said six men and nine women found at the guesthouse were taken to police headquarters for interrogation and counselling.