Off the wire
• Sri Lanka releases 55 Indian fishermen from custody  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- Jan. 15  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Jan. 15  • Traditional medics increasingly well-qualified in Tibet  • Three more wanted for Shenzhen landslide  • Cote d'Ivoire maintains vigilance measures against Ebola  • Walmart opens three new stores in China  • Singapore stocks close 0.52 pct lower  • Foreign exchange rates in Singapore  • New materials found to make MRI scans clearer, safer, faster  
You are here: 　 Home

Cambodian PM orders crackdown on timber smuggling

Xinhua, January 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday ordered crackdown on luxury timber smuggling to Vietnam, according to Information Minister Khieu Kanharith.

The prime minister made the order during a weekly cabinet meeting, he said.

"The prime minister has decided to set up a committee to crack down on timber smuggling to Vietnam," the minister wrote on his Facebook page after the meeting. "He also provides two helicopters for use in this operation."

He said the committee is led by Gen. Sao Sokha, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and commander of the Military Police, with the participation from the National Police, provincial authorities along the border, and forestry administration officials.

Luxury wood has been illegally transported to Vietnam through motorcycles, buses, and trucks.

In October, Cambodian authorities arrested two Vietnamese men in northeastern Mondolkiri province when they attempted to cross the border back into Vietnam in a tour bus loaded with high-grade timber, according to a local media report. Endit