Police officers checking the drug haul. - Photo from Phnom Penh Post/ANN
VIENTIANE/PHNOM PENH (Laotian Times): Cambodia officers seized a Lao national for possessing over one million meth pills while transporting them at the Trapeang Kriel International Border Checkpoint on November 9.
Vue Yeng, a 31 year-old who held a Lao nationality passport, was arrested at cross-border in Cambodia territory after the police suspected a man drove white Fortuner car with a Lao license plate.
The officers found approximately 1,034,413 pills—methamphetamine, weighing 93.973 kilograms (which are millions of dollars), three mobile phones and related documents, according to Phay Raksmey, deputy provincial police chief in charge of anti-drug crime, reported.
The property in dispute including documentation and a vehicle were assigned to the provincial police’s Anti-Drug Department for further process.
Following his arrest, Yeng was transferred to the Stung Treng Provincial Court on 12 November. His official sentencing has yet to be announced.
The similar case happened in 2023, two Lao nationals men, aged 23 and 20 were arrested by Cambodia police for smuggling 13 packages of meth pills into Stung Treng province from Laos. The police stated that they were facing serious criminal charges for attempting to sell illegal drugs to Cambodia, possibly resulting in life in prison for each.
Another case was on 30 March 2023, a Lao and Vietnamese were arrested after the police received a tip-off regarding two drug traffickers. Two of them were in possession of 40 kilograms of methamphetamine.
The suspects were in pre-trial detention at Prey Sar prison as authorities kept investigating more evidence and possible accomplices.
In Laos, during a period of the first nine months, 2024, Vientiane authorities seized 15,5 million narcotic pills and arrested 1,273 individuals, including 82 foreigners, including 739 drug-related cases and other substances. - Laotian Times
