By AFP
14 June 2024 | 10:43 am
Cambodia on Friday burned more than four tonnes of illegal drugs, worth nearly $70 million, as it intensifies a crackdown on narcotic trafficking.
An official prepares to burn seized drugs during a destruction ceremony to mark the UN’s “International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking” in Phnom Penh on June 14, 2024. – Cambodia on June 14 burned more than four tonnes of illegal drugs and chemical substances worth nearly $70 million as the Southeast Asian nation intensified a crackdown on narcotic trafficking. (Photo by TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP)
Cambodia on Friday burned more than four tonnes of illegal drugs, worth nearly $70 million, as it intensifies a crackdown on narcotic trafficking.
Cambodian authorities burned the drugs, including ketamine, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and chemical substances, at a brick kiln under the guard of dozens of armed forces.
Meas Virith, secretary general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), told reporters the street value of the 4.1 tonnes of drugs was around $67 million.
“If the authorities failed to seize these drugs, millions of people would have been victimised,” he said, adding the Cambodian government has ramped up efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Cambodia has become a major transit country for drug trafficking, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Most of the illegal drugs seized in Cambodia were from the so-called Golden Triangle where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, Meas Virith said.
Cambodia has recorded spikes in drug arrests and seizures of narcotics in recent months after Prime Minister Hun Manet, who took office in August last year, ordered authorities to intensify efforts to crack down on illicit drugs.
Around 10,000 drug-related suspects were arrested and 4.7 tonnes of illicit drugs were seized during the first five months of this year, according to Cambodian authorities.
NOW
Cambodia on Friday burned more than four tonnes of illegal drugs, worth nearly $70 million, as it intensifies a crackdown on narcotic trafficking.
NOW
Niger’s top court on Friday lifted the immunity of president Mohamed Bazoum, paving the way for a possible trial after his ouster in a July 2023 military coup. “The court orders the lifting of Mohamed Bazoum’s immunity,” said Abdou Dan Galadima, president of the court, created in November by the new military regime. The Niger…
6 mins ago
Gov. Dauda Lawal of Zamfara has called on judges to be prudent in the administration justice in all cases.
17 mins ago
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, revealed on Friday that a prisoner at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja recently published two books. Tunji-Ojo disclosed this in a statement, adding that this achievement is a result of the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu to improve Nigeria’s correctional facilities. “Yesterday (Thursday), I visited the…
21 mins ago
Pope Francis arrived at a G7 summit Friday in southern Italy, the first head of the Catholic Church to take part in the meeting of rich nations. The pontiff, 87, who arrived by helicopter, will speak about the risks and rewards of artificial intelligence and hold 10 bilaterals with the leaders of the United States,…
38 mins ago
The Kano State Police Command has banned all durbar activities throughout the state ahead of the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations. The ban order was disclosed in a statement by the state police spokesperson, Haruna Abdullahi, on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, Usaini Gumel. “The Kano Police Command has placed a ban on all durbar activities throughout…
1 hour ago
A Nigerian man, Tochukwu Nwosisi, 52, who lives in Indiana, was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison for his involvement in a global advance-fee scheme that defrauded victims of over $5.6 million. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, from at least February 2015 to January 2018, Nwosisi participated in an…
1 hour ago
Despite the economic headwinds encountered for most parts of the second quarter of 2024, the Oyo/Osun Customs Area Command has declared generation of the sum of N6.34bn for May 2024. Cumulatively, when added to the revenue generated for January to April 2024, the sum of ₦30.66bn has been generated as revenue from January to May…
1 hour ago
Venezuelan prisoners have ended a five-day hunger strike that spread to more than a third of the country’s jails, after the government intervened to meet their demands, a prisoners’ rights group said.
1 hour ago
Kyiv and Moscow staged dozens of drone and missile attacks overnight, officials said Friday, leaving several wounded in Ukraine and damaging a fuel reservoir site in a Russian border region.
