Police and forestry officials in Kratie province have seized a truck and the illegally logged luxury-grade wood it had been ferrying through Snuol district after finding the vehicle overturned and abandoned on Saturday, officials said Sunday.
Deputy district police chief Ke Vino said the truck had been overloaded and was found lying on its side on National Road 7 at about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday.
District police chief Chan Sokim said local Forestry Administration officials took possession of the roughly 50 cubic meters of valuable Thnong logs the truck had been carrying, while police impounded the vehicle.
“The truck driver may have fallen asleep while driving,” he said.
According to a statement posted to the website of the National Police, the wood belonged to an unnamed Vietnamese businesswoman in Stung Treng province who had been attempting to smuggle it into Vietnam.
The statement did not provide any other details, and a spokesman for the National Police could not be reached. Snuol district is a hotbed of timber smuggling.
Last month, police found another truck overturned and abandoned in the district, its haul of first-grade Sokrom logs spilled across National Road 7.
