Seven men were charged Sunday with the illegal use and sale of weapons and military uniforms apparently intended to be used to hunt wildlife in Ratanakkiri province, a police official said.
Following a tip from villagers in Bakeo district, police on Friday afternoon seized an AK-47 rifle, three hand grenades and two bags containing Royal Cambodian Armed Forces paratrooper uniforms from two confessed arms dealers, provincial police chief Nguon Khoeun said.
The two men were arrested at 10 p.m. and told police that they planned to sell the weapons and uniforms to five villagers in the district, who were then arrested on Saturday, Brigadier General Khoeun said.
All seven were charged with the illegal use and selling of arms, said Phen Dina, deputy provincial police chief in charge of serious crimes.
Colonel Dina named the two weapons sellers as Toek Sam Ol, 33, and Sok Sorn, 17, and said the pair confessed to having already sold four AK-47s and an SKS rifle to villagers looking to hunt wildlife.
“They confessed that they have sold weapons to villagers for hunting wildlife in the forest in Ratanakkiri province, [including] five weapons and 750 bullets,” the deputy provincial police chief said.
He added that the pair also informed police of a cache of three AK-47s they had stored in the forest for future deals with villagers.
“Now our investigative police are continuing to search for those that are hidden in the forest according to their confession,” he said.
Col. Dina said the guns were bought by Mr. Sam Ol and Mr. Sorn for $120 each from “a soldier who guards an arsenal in Kompong Speu province” and then sold for between $300 and $500 each. He added he did not believe the villagers had planned to do anything more than hunt with the guns.
“Our police first accused them of smuggling weapons and illegally using them, but these people are not bandits or armed robbers, they bought the weapons for hunting wildlife here,” Col. Dina said.
