Cambodian police question head of anti-drugs office

Jan 12, 2011, 11:43 GMT

Phnom Penh - The head of Cambodia's anti-drugs office was in custody and being questioned on unspecified charges, a government spokesman confirmed Wednesday.

General Mok Dara, the secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), was taken in for questioning by police earlier in the day.

'The Cambodian national police have cooperated with the Anti-Corruption Unit to ask Mok Dara to come for questioning, and up to now, Mok Dara is under the control of the authorities,' said Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak.

He added that the case was linked to the recent arrest of a senior police officer, Hun Hean.

Hun Hean, who was the provincial police chief for the western province of Banteay Meanchey, was along with his deputy on suspicion of accepting bribes and involvement in drug trafficking.

Hun Hean - no relation to Prime Minister Hun Sen - told local media the allegations were untrue.

A recent report by the NACD stated that drugs-related arrests were up sharply in 2010 over the previous year, with 536 people arrested in the nine months to end September 2010. Around 470 were arrested in 2009.

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