Two Tonne Stockpile of Fake Drugs Seized in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh – A guesthouse stockpiled with counterfeit medications imported from Vietnam was raided by police from the Anti-Economic Crimes Police Department of the Ministry of Interior, officials from the Ministry of Health, local authorities, and the Deputy Prosecutor of the Court of Phnom Penh, Mr. Keu Bonharaa, on the morning of the 23rd of September, 2012.

The raid occurred in a rented room at the back of the Pob Long Guesthouse, located on Street 310, Tuol Sway Prey 1 Commune, Chamcarmon District. Authorities arrested a 49 year old male named Heak Chamrarn who had garnered the drugs and resided there.

Colonel Long Sreng, deputy head of the Anti-Economic Crimes Police Department of the Ministry of Interior, stated that 42 varieties of counterfeit medications estimated at more than 2 metric tonnes were seized. He described the fake pharmaceuticals as imported from Vietnam, substandard in quality, unregulated, an infringement of Intellectual Property Laws and a serious threat to the health of anyone who should buy and use them.

Colonel Long Sreng stated that, with this clandestine illegal drug importation and distribution business in their sights, the deputy police chief of the Police Justice Department had issued an imperative to the Economic Crimes Police Department, headed by Major General Chea Somay Te, to use their trained expertise to investigate the case which ended in the seizure.

Khmer news from the Koh Santepheap translated by Porky Pig