Police, FBI Bust Seven in Major Drug Raid

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Original report from Washington

06 October 2009

Cambodian police working with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested seven people and seized 16 kilograms of heroin, following three months of investigation, officials said Monday. Police also found counterfeit US dollars in the Oct. 2 raid.

“In the operation, we did an investigation and tracked [the suspects] down for almost three months, with the support of the FBI representative in Cambodia,” said Chhay Sinarith, chief of the Interior Ministry’s security department.

Suspects were arrested in Phnom Penh and Stung Treng province. The raid included the arrest of Lam Sokha, a suspected trafficker who has been arrested and released in recent years, police and court officials said.

The seven suspects were sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday and would be questioned by prosecutors this week, officials said.

Police said the heroin moved through neighboring countries through Stung Treng, which borders Laos.

The discovery of heroin, crystal methamphetamine, or “ice,” drug production and counterfeit money made the raid a major case, Chhay Sinarith said.

The US State Department praised Cambodia for its anti-drug efforts in 2009, but said the country faces increasing problems of consumption, trafficking and the production of dangerous drugs.

The State Department warned that crackdowns on trafficking in Thailand and China had made Cambodia an attractive route for traffickers, while internally, use of amphetamines, including ice, was escalating.

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Poor planning blamed for Philippines flooding

PHOTO

Houses destroyed by flooding after Typhoon Ketsana passed through Marikina City, east of the Philippines capital Manila. [ABC]

Wires

Philippine officials are blaming poor urban planning for the extreme flooding caused by two recent typhoons that killed nearly 300 people.

President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman, Cerge Remonde says lapses in urban planning saw housing estates and shantytowns spring up near reservoirs and lakes.

He says widespread devastation by Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma shows the urgency of re-planning Metro Manila.

Mr Remonde says problems that need solving include insufficient drainage, clogged waterways, uncontrolled housing development, and the proliferation of slums along riverbanks.

Ketsana dumped a month's worth of rain over Manila within a few hours on September 26, triggering the country's heaviest flooding in 40 years.

Flood water has been slow to recede in the capital.

Parma, hit Luzon eight days later, boosting the stagnant flood waters and ruining vast areas of rice fields.

Relief effort

Meanwhile, the American military says hundreds of its troops are involved in the flood relief effort in the Philippines.

Officials say marines and sailors posted in the Manila area have been helping to clear roads, deliver supplies and provide basic medical care.

Gwendoline Pang, of the Philippine Red Cross, says continuing bad weather is hampering progress.

"In the evacuation centres, it's so congested, and they've been there for more than a week already, almost two weeks. Also the clean-up effort is becoming very challenging, because before we can clean up the area, another typhoon is coming again," said Ms Pang.

Cambodia death toll

The death toll in Cambodia is at least 17 after Typhoon Ketsana swept through the country.

But the National Committee for Disaster Management believes that number is likely to increase still further.

Ketsana caused widespread flooding in Cambodia, destroying homes and crops, and displacing thousands of families.

It passed through after earlier battering Vietnam and the Philippines, where hundreds of people died.

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