Police in Phnom Penh are searching for the driver of an abandoned and empty container truck, which was found in Russei Keo district on Sunday morning and was scheduled to deliver a shipment of garments to a dry port in Pur Senchey district, officials said.
Deputy Russei Keo district police chief Iev Chhun Pheng said residents of the district’s Tuol Sangke commune spotted the truck along the road at about 8 a.m. Sunday.
“After we received the information that a truck was parked and causing traffic jams, we led a force to have a look,” he said. “But when we opened the container, we saw no goods inside.”
Mr. Chhun Pheng said that representatives of Olair Dry Port Worldwide Logistics later told police that the truck was expected Sunday morning with its cargo of garments, and that police suspect the driver ran off with the shipment sometime Saturday night.
“The driver took the container truck, which was full of clothing, to sell to other dealers and then abandoned the truck there,” he said.
Mr. Chhun Pheng said police only knew that the truck came from a factory in Kompong Cham province and did not know the name of the driver, what kind of garments had been inside the truck, or the quantity.
“Right now, we are cooperating with the dry port to search for the truck driver,” he said, adding that police were also looking for others who may have been involved.
“I think more people must have been involved in the case, because the driver could not have stolen all the clothes from the truck himself,” he said.
Huy Hean, Tuol Sangke commune police chief, also said he did not know which factory the truck had come from, but that the vehicle belonged to the dry port.
“The truck owner hasn’t offered the exact figure of loss yet, but it may not be too much,” he said. “A small amount of textile products disappeared.”
