Four intelligence officers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces’ general headquarters in Siem Reap were robbed by gun-toting illegal wood smugglers on Tuesday.

Kim Sangvaroth, intelligence officer for Siem Reap’s RCAF, said yesterday that he had received reports of a Korean truck travelling from Oddar Meanchey to Banteay Meanchey, carrying a load of illegally logged timber, on Tuesday.

He and other officers in his vehicle attempted to pull over the truck, but were accosted by two cars carrying alleged accomplices of the wood smugglers, who attempted to thwart their pursuit by running them off the road.

“We chased the truck hauling the illegal timber even though the two cars were attempting to put us in danger”, said Kim Sangvaroth. They continued to follow the truck to Banteay Meanchey province’s Preah Netr Preah district before he was accosted by five more vehicles.

“About 10 people got out of the five cars and fired two shots into the air. They then shot the wheels of our car, broke the mirrors, and stole my cell phone before getting into their cars to flee the scene”, said Kim Sangvaroth.