Michael Dickison
Illicit drugs confiscated by authorities (Chorn Chanren/VOD)

Cambodia ‘Increasingly Targeted’ for Drug Production by Organized Crime

Organized crime groups — with individuals commonly from China and Taiwan — are “increasingly targeting” Cambodia for the production of meth and ecstasy and the trafficking of ketamine, with international syndicates’ signature tea bags used for smuggling found in the country, a new report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime says.

Srey Seath, wife of jailed CNRP activist Su Yean, speaks about her husband’s arrest, in Tbong Khmum province’s Memot district on May 20, 2021. (Chorn Chanren/VOD)

Opposition Spirit Down, but Not Out, in Tbong Khmum

Tbong Khmum, the nation’s youngest province, has faced a sharp crackdown against opposition supporters in the last several months, with at least nine activists in jail. But family members of imprisoned CNRP supporters say they will not be silenced.

People who have recovered from Covid-19 in Preah Sihanouk province wait to return home after being discharged from quarantine, in a photo posted to the provincial administration's Facebook page on May 13, 2021.

Covid-19 Cases Decline in Former Epicenters, Provincial Disclosures Uneven

Just over a week after Phnom Penh began a widespread easing of Covid-19 restrictions, Preah Sihanouk province has lifted red zones, Prey Veng is publishing photos of people who tested positive with Covid-19, and some provinces appear not to be releasing new infection numbers at all.