The number of drug-related arrests rose during the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2013 despite a drop in drug busts, police officials said Monday upon the release of a mid-year report on drug statistics covering Phnom Penh.
There were 111 drug cases involving 263 people from January through June, according to Lieutenant Colonel Iv Thearith, who heads the city’s anti-drug police department.
That compares to 116 cases and 214 arrests during the first half of last year.
So far this year, police officials said, 58 cases were related to drug trafficking, 15 involved the storage of drugs or places where drugs were being used, and 31 people were arrested for drug use.
All but three of the 111 total cases have already been sent to court.
More than 108 grams of crystal methamphetamine were seized, along with more than 318 grams of ecstasy and 282 methamphetamine pills.
Four guns and eight swords were also confiscated.
