PHNOM PENH (The Phnom Penh Post/ANN) - Siem Reap police officials on Wednesday seized 18 tonnes of suspected counterfeit seasoning, detained a suspect and are on the hunt for the operation’s ringleader.

Siem Reap police officials on Wednesday seized 18 tonnes of suspected

counterfeit seasoning, detained a suspect and are on the hunt for the

operation’s ringleader.

The operation is part of an ongoing crackdown that may be connected

to a previous case in the capital that saw three people detained earlier

this month.

Siem Reap provincial police chief Mork Theara told The Post on

Thursday that authorities detained three people, including the

distribution location owner, after the provincial court prosecutor

inspected the site in the province’s Chreav commune.

Theara said: “We detained the owner temporarily so that she may

provide some details that help us find the source [of the fake

seasoning].

“She said she brought the seasoning [to Siem Reap] from Phnom

Penh. We must question her further, conduct more searches and execute

legal action.

“We have not confirmed that the seasoning is counterfeit as we have

not tested it yet, but the firm which holds exclusive rights to import

it and the owner confirmed it is.”

On December 10, Ministry of Interior police officials detained three

people and seized more than four tonnes of suspected counterfeit

seasoning during a raid on a separate location in Phnom Penh.

Theara said the two cases may be related since both crackdowns yielded seasoning under the same trademark.

“We won’t know if the cases are connected until the suspect provides further clarification,” he stressed.

Touch Yuthea, the Ministry of Interior’s Counter Counterfeit

Committee deputy secretary, also told The Post that the two cases may be

connected, but declined to provide additional details as the matter is

under investigation.

Yuthea said the authorities were relying on the detained suspects to

uncover additional storehouses and offenders, adding that a total of 19

to 20 tonnes were seized during the overnight raid in Siem Reap

province.

“Sometimes, judicial police officials keep suspects so that they will cooperate with specialists in their investigation.

“We cannot speculate on [who will be] sent to court or charged

because [the police] can use this information to uncover more locations,

Yuthea said.