Huge rosewood haul seized in Preah Vihear province

29 January 2013
By Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post

Senior members of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) yesterday seized about a tonne of luxury rosewood near the house of a two-star general in the Choam Ksan district of Preah Vihear province after a night hunting for illegal smuggling.

General Ngeth Chanthon, deputy general of joint staff at the RCAF’s Preah Vihear provincial headquarters, led the raid, which he said was in response to a report from members of his forces who had been chasing someone in a vehicle full of rosewood the night before.

“We don’t know who the suspect was, but we found approximately one tonne of rosewood in the morning and handed it over to the local forestry administration,” Chanthon said.

An early report from the local news website Deum Ampil stated that members of the RCAF had carried out the raid on a vehicle parked in the house of two-star general Srey Bora, the deputy comm-ander of an RCAF division in the province.

Chanthon, however, said this report derived from a misunderstanding, as the stash of rosewood was found in the street “near Bora’s house”.

“No, the suspect was not involved with General Bora,” Chanthon said.

Bora could not be reach for comment, and Srey Deok, commander of the RCAF based at Preah Vihear, said he was not aware of this case of rosewood smuggling.

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