Cambodia to try men who robbed Vietnam jewellery store

Oct 19, 2009, 4:36 GMT

   Hanoi - Cambodian police have arrested one of four men who allegedly stole a kilogram of gold and 20,000 dollars from a jewellery store in Vietnam, a Vietnamese police official said Monday.

   Cambodian citizen Chum Chech, 24, was arrested in Cambodia's Pray Ven province based on information supplied by Vietnamese police, said Lieutenant Colonel Pham Van Cao of the provincial police in Tay Ninh province.

   Chech is accused of being one of four men who robbed a jewellery store in Tay Ninh on April 14.

   'We cannot extradite him for trial in Vietnam because the two countries have not signed an extradition treaty,' Cao said. 'The robbers will be tried in Cambodia under Cambodian law.'

   Cao said Chech had named his accomplices, who were reportedly armed and hiding in Cambodia.

   He reportedly confessed that the group decided to rob the store because they needed money for a Cambodian holiday. They bought the two AK-47s and crossed into Vietnam on motorbikes and went to Tan Lap market, according to police.

   They made the jewellery store owner to open his safe, and then forced him, his wife, and a housekeeper into a room and locked the door before fleeing back to Cambodia, police said.

   Cao said police were still searching for the other three men.