The National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), along with Chinese and Thai embassy officials, on November 26 visited the facilities of two pharmaceutical firms in western Battambang province’s Ratanak Mondol district, as part of an apparent bid to ramp up the fight against the manufacture of illegal drugs from legal chemicals.

Led by NACD secretary-general Meas Vyrith, the delegation visited Hunan Er-Kang (Cambodia) Investment Co Ltd and Mekong Morokot Pharmaceutical Co Ltd’s installations in western Ratanak Mondol’s Treng commune.

“The visit aims to strengthen measures to control chemical synthesis as per the Law on Drug Control, and to promote the effective participation of the companies in preventing the synthesis of legal substances into illegal drugs in Cambodia,” the NACD said without elaborating.

On the same day, 63 people were apprehended by police in 27 anti-drug operations across the country.

According to the National Police, 32 out of the 63 were implicated in 16 separate drug trafficking cases, while the other 31 were accused of drug abuse. Police seized more than 167g of methamphetamine.