Oknha linked to timber bust

Police officers, gendarmes and Forestry Administration officials yesterday discovered a large cache of valuable, illegally felled wood – which locals say was destined for Vietnam – after raiding a house in Stung Treng province linked to a prominent timber trader.

Acting on a tip-off from a local villager, about 20 officials took part in the operation in Stung Treng town’s Stung Treng commune. No arrests were made, but a local village chief said the property belonged to a man known as “Oknha Thai”, a prominent logging baron in the country’s east.

Var Sophan, head of the provincial anti-economic crime police, said authorities surrounded the house in Kandal village on Monday night but waited until yesterday morning to cut the lock and enter the premises, in accordance with rules on forcing entry to private property.

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