Stung Treng authorities seize illegal Thnong wood shipment
Authorities in Stung Treng province discovered and confiscated a haul of luxury wood that was being transported in three trucks on Sunday night from the protected Virachey National Park, officials said Tuesday. Provincial deputy police chief Yorn Din said the trucks were stopped and searched as they attempted to pass through Stung Treng City because police suspected that they were carrying more wood than legally permitted. … Hou Sam Ol, provincial coordinator for local rights group Adhoc, said that investigations by his team had found that the timber had previously been seized by forestry administration officials in Stung Treng province. It was then sold on to a company in Kandal province’s Takhmao City, he said, where it was being transported when police again intercepted it. … Virachey National Park stretches west from the northeastern tip of Ratanakkiri province on the border with Vietnam into Stung Treng province. Although the 330,000-hectare forest is ostensibly protected, illegal loggers ruthlessly cut down its rosewood trees to sell the luxury wood, which is fashioned into furniture and sold at exorbitant prices. In the provinces, one cubic meter of Thnong can fetch up to $800 but prices are even higher in Phnom Penh and Vietnam. …
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/stung-treng-authorities-seize-illegal-thnong-wood-shipment-58644/
