Nigerian and Romanian arrested in Cambodia airport cocaine bust after tipoff from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
A Romanian man who attempted to
smuggle nearly half a million dollars worth of cocaine in his luggage
through Phnom Penh International Airport, Cambodia and a Nigerian
national identified as Chukwuemeka Ibe, 40, to whom he allegedly intended
to hand off the drugs, were arrested on Sunday, August14.
Deputy National Police Commissioner
Mok Chito said on Monday that Adrian-Calin
Varadi, 35, had arrived from Brazil and was apprehended by authorities
at the airport at about 4 p.m. in response to a tip from the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA).
"We
received information in the morning from the DEA. The DEA informed us
there was a possibility that a suspect was on a flight from Brazil to
Cambodia…suspected of trafficking drugs. Among the
passengers, we suspected one person, a Romanian national. So we checked
his belongings and found nearly 20 packages of cocaine."
The drugs weighed nearly 5 kg. Upon interrogation, the Romanian led police to his alleged
Nigerian contact, Ibe, who was arrested at a Phnom Penh
guesthouse on Sunday evening.
"Mr.
Varadi came to Cambodia in order to give the drugs to another person
who came from Thailand. We already arrested the person who
came to take the items." Mok Chito added.
He
said both suspects were being detained at the Interior Ministry’s
anti-drug department. Meas Vyrith,
secretary-general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, said
Mr. Varadi had been traveling alone with the drugs in his suitcase. He
said the cocaine had a market value of nearly $500,000 and was likely
destined for another country.
"There is no market for cocaine in
Cambodia," he said.
Photo credit: Cambodia National Police weighed the drugs at the Phnom Penh International Airport on Sunday.
Source: www.cambodiadaily.com
