[Cambodia] Six-tonne timber haul unearthed

Stung Treng province police are searching for suspects after authorities found more than six tonnes of luxury-grade timber buried near a remote home in Siem Pang district last week.

After receiving a tip from villagers, a multi-department coalition of police on Thursday unearthed 6,044 kilograms of rosewood and thnong wood, Stung Treng provincial court deputy prosecutor Chea Pich told the Post yesterday.

“The timber was buried in four different plots, more than one metre underground,†Pich said.

A 10-year-old girl was the only person inside the nearby home when authorities discovered the illicit wood, Pich said. The provincial court will issue a search warrant for the house once the provincial Forestry Administration files its report of the incident in court.

Siem Pang district Forestry Administration chief Ly Korn declined to comment on the case yesterday.