A high-speed chase took an unexpected turn in Mondolkiri province on Tuesday when officials pursuing a suspected timber smuggler were blocked by a Lexus SUV, leading them to abandon their original target and arrest the second driver.
A team of Forestry Administration and military police officers were tailing the alleged smuggler along National Road 76 in Keo Seima district at about 10:30 a.m. when a Lexus SUV sped ahead of them and began swerving wildly, foiling their attempts to stop the suspect’s Toyota sedan, according to Mondolkiri military police commander Sak Sarang.
“We arrested the man because he tried to prevent authorities from stopping the Toyota Camry, which we think was transporting luxury wood” from the Seima Protected Forest, he said. “We don’t know who the man is, but we brought him to the provincial military police headquarters for questioning.”
So Sovithya, a deputy prosecutor at the Mondolkiri Provincial Court, said he received a call from the pursuing officers during the chase and authorized the Lexus driver’s arrest.
He said he would personally question the man today.
