Police in Phnom Penh on Saturday arrested a pawnbroker and confiscated more than 100 stolen motorbikes he was selling out of his shop in Pur Senchey district, an official said Sunday.
According to Dangkao district police chief Chim Sitha, a local man on Friday reported to his department that he had found his stolen motorbike at the pawn shop, located along National Road 3 in Pur Senchey’s Phloeung Chheh Roteh commune.
Mr. Sitha said his officers cooperated with Pur Senchey police to raid the shop on Saturday afternoon, seizing 103 motorbikes and arresting Meng Sie, 44, the owner of the shop.
“We confiscated all of those motorbikes to keep at the Dangkao district police station so that people who have had their motorbikes stolen by thieves can come to see them,” he said, explaining that anyone who suspects their motorbike could be among those confiscated should bring their vehicle’s registration card to the police station to check.
Because most of the motorbikes were older models and of poor quality, Mr. Sitha said, he suspected they were obtained outside of Phnom Penh.
“Those motorbikes were maybe stolen from the countryside,” he said.
Mr. Sitha said Mr. Sie, the shop’s owner, had not yet been charged and was still being questioned by his officers while they search his business records in an attempt to track down who sold him the motorbikes.
