koh kong town – Sixteen Thai and three Cambodian illegal logging suspects were brought by RCAF airplane to Phnom Penh Thursday morning following their arrest Tuesday at a Pursat province logging site.
The suspects, captured by paratroopers belonging to the elite 911 military unit, would be charged with stealing state property, officials said.
The Thai suspects would face the additional charge of illegal entry into Cambodia, appeals court prosecutor Kong Srim said.
“We have the evidence in hand,” he said at the Koh Kong airport. “An investigation will be conducted to find out who the mastermind is.”
“The [Thai] men have to be tried in Cambodia because they have done illegal activities in Cambodia,” Kong Srim said.
RCAF General Chea Dara, who commanded Tuesday’s operation, said that the region along the Thai border where the suspects were arrested is especially susceptible to illegal activities because RCAF soldiers are stationed far from the area.
“This is an easy area for Thais to cut trees,” he said. “We will now take all their equipment in order to argue with Thailand not to buy unlicensed timber from Cambodia.”
Richard Gransalski, chief technical adviser for the forest crime monitoring and reporting unit, said logs were seen last week when the group did aerial surveillance.
But when a flyover was conducted Tuesday, no logs could be seen. The logs were probably hidden in the forest or brought to Thailand, he said.
During a flyover of the Chor One area in Pursat province on Wednesday, officials spotted logs stacked on the Thai side of the border.
Earlier this week, an investigator said he believed RCAF soldiers and locals were behind the logging site, located 10 km from the Thai border and next to Koh Kong province.
About 150 paratroopers and 150 military police from Phnom Penh swept down on the area Tuesday to begin a week-long crackdown on logging. Paratroopers arrested the suspects after rappelling down from a helicopter.
“The government is serious,” Gransalski said. They have mobilized hundreds of people to respond. It sends the right message.”
