For the month of September, the Ministry of Interior recorded a total of 539 drug cases involving the arrest of 1,039 suspects along with 26kg of illegal drugs seized.

According to interior minister Sar Kheng, of those 539 cases, 463 were drug trafficking, 75 were drug use and one was drug manufacturing by laboratory synthesis.

The drugs included 13kg of methamphetamines in powder/crystalline form; 131g of methamphetamines tablets; over 8kg of ecstasy or MDMA; over 1kg of ketamine; over 1kg of Nimetazepam; 4kg of marijuana; and over 4kg of chemical compounds used in the manufacture of drugs.

In addition to the arrests, police officers applied administrative measures or provided education regarding the law to 657 people in various cases, including one incident involving a night club whose owners are suspected gangsters where the police educated and administer drug tests to 103 people who were present there, according to the minister’s Facebook post on October 19.

Beyond that incident, police tested truck drivers, employees at entertainment venues, patrons and employees at casinos, hotels and karaoke parlours on 50 occasions and found 48 people total who tested positive for an illegal substance and were referred to drug treatment facilities.

Sar Kheng said the scourge of drugs was the enemy of socio-economic development and that it poisoned the spirit of humanity, especially youths.