Two men were arrested on Sunday night at Siem Reap International Airport attempting to smuggle 79 kg of ivory out of the country, a customs official said Monday.
Ang Sokhenor, the customs chief of the airport, said the two men were Vietnamese nationals and had been attempting to board a flight to South Korea with suitcases full of ivory when they were apprehended.
“First, they denied that those three suitcases belonged to them, but when we checked their passport numbers against the luggage, they matched,” he said.
Mr. Sokhenor said this was the first ivory bust of the year, but that last year five attempted ivory smugglers were apprehended.
“We handed over those Vietnamese men to our forestry officers for court processing last night,” Mr. Sokhenor added.
