Anti-drug police raided storage and processing sites in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo and Meanchey districts on the evening of Friday 21 August, working through to Saturday morning under a court warrant, prosecutors said.[1] They seized 1,487 kilograms of dried marijuana and 1.5 kilograms of concentrated marijuana oil, along with drying and packing machines; the cannabis had been smuggled from Laos packed in Dao coffee bags.[2][3][1] The head of the Interior Ministry’s anti-drug office, Gen. Khieu Samon, said the haul was worth more than $7 million on Western markets and was bound for a third country, later identified as Europe, calling it the biggest seizure in 15 years of crackdowns.[2][3][1] Three Cambodians were detained, interrogated and sent to court, though the deputy prosecutor first said four had been arrested.[1] The haul, the suspects and the equipment were presented to the media in Phnom Penh on Tuesday 25 August.[3]
Cambodia seizes 1.5 tonnes of marijuana in coffee bags, biggest haul in 15 years
Anti-drug police raided sites in Phnom Penh on 21 August 2015 and seized 1,487 kilograms of marijuana smuggled from Laos in coffee bags, plus 1.5 kilograms of cannabis oil. Three Cambodians were detained in what police called their biggest marijuana seizure in 15 years.
🇰🇭 Russey Keo district, Phnom Penh · Cambodia
- Arrested
- 3
- Cannabis
- 1.487 t
- Cannabis
- Herbal cannabis
- Case stage
- Under investigation
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
- Arrested
- 3
- Cannabis
- 1.487 t
- Agency type
- Police, Prosecutor
- Cannabis
- Herbal cannabis (1.487 t)
- Activity
- Smuggling
- Case stage
- Under investigation
- Route
- Laos → Cambodia
Sources
- ASEAN NOWaseannow.comGigantic ganja bust in capital, quoting The Phnom Penh Post
- High Timeshightimes.comCambodian Police Seize 1.5 Tons of Pot, Largest in 15 Years
- Free Districtfreedistrict.comMarijuana worth $7 million seized in Cambodia
Open questions the AI reported
- The deputy prosecutor said four suspects were arrested, while the anti-drug department said three were detained and sent to court; the report uses the lower figure.
- An AFP photograph of a suspect escorted at the Anti-Drug Department on 25 August was found on Getty Images, but its direct image URL could not be recovered, so it is not listed as media.

