AT least five people have been arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking following raids in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, officials said yesterday, though initial accounts of the details of the busts differed.

Mau Saroeun, the police chief of Meanchey district’s Stung Meanchey commune, said five suspects were arrested during raids in two villages in his commune yesterday and on Monday.

But Kirt Chantharith, spokesman for the National Police, said seven people had been arrested during raids on two houses on Monday night.

He said officials had also seized nearly 7 million flu tablets containing the ingredient pseudoephedrine, which can be chemically altered to produce methamphetamine.

The amounts seized were enough to produce around 400 kilogrammes of the drug, he said.

Moek Dara, secretary general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, said that suspects arrested during the busts were being detained for questioning. However, he declined to give detailed information, citing ongoing investigations.

“Right now, I can’t talk in detail about the arrested people and the exact number of drug supplies that were confiscated,” he said. “I am now working hard on this.”

He added that authorities were also investigating a series of people thought to be involved with the suspects, and that a press conference would be held today to announce more details.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP