Following a car chase in Siem Reap province early Saturday morning, military police confiscated 280 kg of illegally logged rosewood from a vehicle and arrested the driver, a Forestry Administration official said on Sunday.
At about 4 a.m., military police acting on a tip from forestry officials started chasing a Toyota Camry south along National Road 67, which connects Anlong Veng district in Oddar Meanchey province with Siem Reap City, said Tea Kimsoth, chief of the Forestry Administration’s Siem Reap cantonment.
He said that as military police gave chase, another car working with the smugglers attempted to block their way, causing one of the military police cars to crash.
One of the tires of the vehicle carrying the illicit timber was punctured in Siem Reap’s Banteay Srei district, allowing military police to arrest the driver and confiscate the illegal load, he said.
“We arrested the driver of the car, Sieng Piseth, aged 24, and confiscated 70 pieces of rosewood from his Camry,” Mr. Kimsoth said, adding that officers failed to catch up to the second vehicle.
