The chief of a village in Ratanakkiri province was caught with about 250 grams of crystal methamphetamine in neighboring Stung Treng province on Thursday morning and will face drug trafficking charges this weekend, police said on Friday.
Mi Boulam, the 67-year-old chief of Pakalan village in Ratanakkiri’s Veun Sai district, was arrested in Stung Treng’s Siem Pang district at about 10 a.m. while riding on a motorbike with his friend Inn Sanmaly, 45, according to Son Nimol, chief of the Stung Treng police’s anti-drug bureau.
Mr. Nimol said the men had been stopped by local police suspicious of their reason for being in the area, and were quickly found to be carrying 248.9 grams of crystal meth.
“After being questioned, both suspects confessed to being drug distributors,” he said, adding that Mr. Boulam and Mr. Sanmaly told police that they had procured the drugs across the border in Laos.
Stung Treng police chief Mao Dara said the men were being held at the provincial police headquarters and would be sent to court to face charges on Saturday.
