After police tracked a stolen Toyota from Phnom Penh to Kandal province on Sunday, coordinated raids across four provinces this week led to the capture of six suspected thieves and the seizure of six more vehicles, officials said Thursday.
“Kandal provincial police cooperated with Takeo, Kratie and Kampong Cham provincial police between November 8 to November 11 and arrested six car thieves and confiscated seven cars,” Kandal provincial police chief Iv Chamroeun said Thursday.
On Sunday, he said, a Toyota Camry was stolen from a resident of Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, but police were able to track it to Kandal’s Takhmao City using a GPS system installed in the car. Two suspects, Seng Vannak, 29, and Kea Siminh, 31, were arrested when the car was recovered, he added.
Brigadier General Chamroeun said the pair then named two accomplices in Takeo—Meas Chantha, 31, and Prak Sarun, 29—who were subsequently arrested. One of the four detainees then told police that more vehicles stolen by the group had been sent north to Kratie province to be sold.
Oum Phy, deputy Kratie provincial police chief, said his officers cooperated with Kandal police on Wednesday to arrest two more suspected thieves, Uon E Youra, 30, and Ork Vandy, 29, and confiscated five Toyotas in their possession, all Camrys or Corollas.
“We cracked down Thursday and found the cars and arrested two men in Kratie City,” Mr. Phy said, adding that the two were handed over to Kandal police, along with the seized vehicles.
Brig. Gen. Chamroeun said a seventh Toyota was traced to Kampong Cham province, and that police were searching for three more suspects in the case: Hoeun Ny, 32, and Phy Nath, 37, from Takeo province, and Uon Sidin, 20, from Kratie province.
Lim Sokuntha, chief prosecutor at the Kandal Provincial Court, said the detained suspects were in the custody of provincial police and would be questioned at the court today.
