Phnom Penh's anti-drugs chief charged with possession, bribery

Oct 19, 2009, 3:44 GMT

   Phnom Penh - The head of Phnom Penh's anti-drugs police team has been charged with illegal possession of drugs and taking bribes from arrested drug dealers, national media reported Monday.

   Lieutenant-Colonel Touch Muysor was suspended earlier this month after police found thousands of amphetamine tablets in his office.

   A court prosecutor told the Cambodia Daily newspaper that Lt-Col Touch was formally charged over the weekend, but had been under suspicion since 2005.

   The prosecutor said one charge relates to possession of drugs, while the other is for taking bribes to ensure that the cases of arrested dealers were shelved before even making it to court.

   Lt-Col Touch is the second ranking officer in Cambodia's drugs force to be arrested this month. On October 2, Bun Pov, a lieutenant in the national anti-drugs police force, was arrested just one week into the job after police raided his home and found 18 kilograms of heroin and methamphetamine tablets.

   The US Federal Bureau of Investigation was involved in a series of arrests the same day which saw seven dealers apprehended. However police would not say whether any of the cases were linked.

   Cambodia has long been seen as a regional transit point for drugs shipments.