Cambodian intravenous drug users, who declined to be identified, take a rest at the place where they live and use narcotics behind a pagoda in Phnom Penh. Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
09/05/2007
The US said Wednesday its Drug Enforcement Administration would give $50,000 to Cambodia through the UN for the destruction of 4 tons of drug-making materials found in two raids April 1.
One ton of the chemicals were potentially explosive and others were toxic, officials said. The Cambodian government and the UN planned to spend $120,000 to destroy drug-making materials, a UN drug officer said.
Fourteen people were arrested in the April 1 drug sweeps, but a provincial government official and a rights investigator urged their release, saying the suspects were unwitting workers in drug production who thought they might be making fertilizer.
The money comes as cooperation between Cambodian and US enforcement agencies, including the DEA and the FBI, are improving.
One ton of the chemicals were potentially explosive and others were toxic, officials said. The Cambodian government and the UN planned to spend $120,000 to destroy drug-making materials, a UN drug officer said.
Fourteen people were arrested in the April 1 drug sweeps, but a provincial government official and a rights investigator urged their release, saying the suspects were unwitting workers in drug production who thought they might be making fertilizer.
The money comes as cooperation between Cambodian and US enforcement agencies, including the DEA and the FBI, are improving.
