Cambodia Arrests 12,356 Drug Suspects with over 2.6 Tonnes of Narcotics in First 8 Months
This photo taken on June 28, 2023 shows a batch of seized illicit drugs and ingredients to be destroyed in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo by Phearum/Xinhua
- By Xinhua News Agency
- September 1, 2023 2:02 PM
PHNOM PENH -- Cambodian authorities had arrested 12,356 drug-related suspects, including 254 foreigners, during the first eight months of 2023, the country's Anti-Drug Department said in a report on Friday.
Some 49 percent of the suspects were drug users, and the rest were drug traffickers, manufacturers and transporters, the report said.
"A total of 2.62 tonnes of illicit drugs, 43.5 kg of dry marijuana, and 23,816 marijuana plants were seized in the suspects' possession during the January-August period of 2023," the report said.
The authorities had also impounded 30 homemade rifles, 25 pistols, 105 cars, 1,142 motorbikes, 3,518 telephones and 257 scales, as well as some cash and properties, the report said.
Most of the seized drugs were ketamine, heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine pills, and cathinone.
The Southeast Asian country has no death sentence for drug traffickers. Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grams of illicit drugs could be jailed for life.
