A car loaded with 53 logs of rosewood was seized on the cashew plantation of a Kampong Thom province police official on Sunday, though the officer and his superiors denied his involvement yesterday.

According to provincial police chief Chou Sam An, authorities, led by Kampong Thom provincial prosecutor Ith Sothea, seized the vehicle on the Prasat Balang district property of Yim Sophoan, section head of the anti-economic crime office in Kampong Thom.

Sam An said Sothea had accused Sophoan of involvement in the crime, but maintained Sothea had been mistaken.

“In fact, [Sophoan] helped chase and arrest the car. The driver knows the plantation and they forced the plantation guards to open the gate,” he said.

The guards – Sophoan’s sister, Lim Leat, and her husband, Yet Savan – were detained as alleged accomplices.

Sophaon said yesterday the drivers of the vehicle carrying the wood had dumped the car on his property after threatening his brother-in-law, and denied any wrongdoing himself.

Prosecutor Ith Sothea, said yesterday the woman had been released, but he declined to comment on Sophoan’s potential involvement.