Friday, April 06, 2007

Drug Location Seriously Contaminates Cow Farm in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, April 5 (Xinhua) -- A cow farm where the police uncovered a drug lab on Sunday in Kompong Speu province has been seriously contaminated with unidentified chemicals, according to local media on Thursday.

At least one ton of the poisonous chemicals permeated the soil around the farm, polluting the water and the plants or even possibly leading to health problems for the local residents, the Commercial Daily quoted drug police as saying.

The local authority has ordered the people living around the farm to evacuate, set danger marks for the area and will slaughter the 108 cows raised there, the newspaper said.

The Cambodian government currently possesses none of the technology and experts to handle such a situation as the soil there to be purified and the three tons of chemicals confiscated from the lab and another drug site in Phnom Penh to be stockpiled safely, said the newspaper.

The government also called for the international community to cooperate with Cambodia in an attempt to solve the problem, it added.

On Sunday, 18 suspects and three tons of chemicals for producing amphetamine-type drugs were seized during Cambodia's largest ever drug bust respectively carried out in Phnom Penh and Kompong Speu.

In 2005, Cambodia cracked 346 drug-related cases, arrested almost 400 drug traffickers and seized 330,000 ecstasy pills.

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