A military officer stopped while driving a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces truck piled with rosewood in Oddar Meanchey province on Tuesday night evaded arrest, though authorities refused to explain how he got away.
Anlong Veng district police chief So Nov said Forestry Administration officials stopped the military pick-up truck as it was transporting the wood along National Road 67B.
Khuon Rady, the forestry official who led the operation, could not be reached for comment but was quoted telling the website Fresh News that 12 pieces of rosewood weighing 235 kg had been confiscated.
Yin Yorm, deputy commander of the 41st Infantry Brigade stationed in Oddar Meanchey, said the truck belonged to his unit but that the offending officer, Mat Ly, had been transferred out of the brigade last month.
Mr. Yorm said he did not know about Mr. Ly’s new posting or how the officer had used his unit’s truck. Khorn Khem, chief of the Forestry Administration’s Anlong Veng division, would not say whether his officials were seeking Mr. Ly’s arrest.
