Cambodia cracks down on 858 drug cases, arrests 1,937 people in 11 months

The Interior Ministry's anti- drug police department has cracked down on 858 drug-related cases in the first eleven months of this year, up 28 percent over the same period last year, Cambodian National Police said on its website Tuesday.

Interior Ministry's anti-drug police chief Lt. Gen. Khieu Samon said Tuesday that some 1,937 suspects have been arrested so far this year, up 38 percent over the same period last year.

"In this year's crackdowns, the police have seized a total of more than 65 kilograms of drugs," he said on the website.

Cambodia was a transit country for regional and international trafficking of drugs, and the drugs have caused a lot of negative consequences in the Cambodian society, he added.

"Most of the drugs confiscated in Cambodia are cocaine, methamphetamine pills, and heroin," said Samon.

Meas Vyrith, secretary general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, said in May that approximately 13,000 people, aged between 18 and 35 years old, have been using drugs in Cambodia, up from roughly 7,000 users in 2007.

He said a drug user spends about 17 U.S. dollars a day on drugs.