VZCZCXRO1834
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0203/01 0860901
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 270901Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 2687
RUEHNA/DEA WASHDC PRIORITY 0002
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHHMUNB/JIATF WEST PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000203 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP, INL/AAE -- AMY CARLON 
BANGKOK FOR TCAO -- SCOTT ROLSTON, AND DEA -- CHAD ESCH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PGOV ASEC CB
SUBJECT: SECOND LARGE METHAMPHETAMINE BUST PUTS CAMBODIA ON 
THE PRODUCTION MAP 
 
REF: 07 PHNOM PENH 515 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Over the weekend of March 21-22 a police 
raid of four separate locations uncovered significant amounts 
of illicit chemicals and resulted in the arrest of 5 
individuals, including 2 Chinese nationals.  The amount of 
chemicals and plant substances seized in the raids, when 
combined, could produce approximately 112 kilograms of pure 
methamphetamine with a wholesale street value of over $4 
million and a tablet value of over $15 million U.S. dollars. 
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, along with the 
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Specialist Response Team, 
assisted the Cambodian Anti-Drug Department (CADD) to assess 
the locations and identify the chemicals, which were found to 
be indicative of a "red phosphorous cook," a type of 
methamphetamine production used to produce multiple kilograms 
at a time.  This recent bust follows almost 2 years to the 
day since the first ever methamphetamine "superlab" was 
discovered in Cambodia (Ref A), and further illustrates the 
emergence of this small SE Asian country as a source for 
narcotics production, transit, and consumption.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------- 
SOMETHING SMELLS FISHY 
---------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In connected raids of four separate locations, the 
CADD along with local police arrested 5 individuals and 
seized illicit plants and chemicals used in the production of 
methamphetamines.  According to a CADD official, the 
locations, one in Kampong Cham province, two in Phnom Penh, 
and one in Takeo, had been under surveillance since January 
¶26.  Local police in Kampong Cham were originally tipped off 
by concerned civilians who reported strange smells coming 
from a neighboring fish farm.  The farm, run by a 52-year-old 
Cambodian male, was used as a front for the manufacture and 
storage of the illicit plants and chemicals.  More than 2.3 
tons of ephedra grass and 14 kg of ephedra seeds were among 
the items seized from the Kampong Cham location.  Banned in 
the U.S. in 2004, ephredra-containing supplements are used 
for the common cold, asthma and hay fever, as well as to 
enhance performance and diet.  Ephedra is also used as a 
precursor for methamphetamines. 
 
------------------- 
A WHOLE LOT OF DOPE 
------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The bust, which the DEA agent involved described as 
"major" with the potential to make "a whole lot of dope," 
included the above 2.357 tons of ephedra plants capable of 
producing 161 kilograms of ephedrine, 24 kilograms of red 
phosphorous, 600 kilograms of sodium hydroxide, over 300 
liters of xylene, iodine, barium sulfite, as well as 
undetermined chemicals and paraphernalia such as 
industrial-sized ovens, triple-neck flasks (the possession of 
which is a 5 year felony in the U.S.) and a tableting 
machine.  Used together, these items are capable of producing 
over 5 million tablets of meth with a local street value of 
over $15 million U.S. dollars, or 112 kilograms of pure meth 
with a wholesale street value of almost $4 million U.S. 
dollars.  According to DEA and the CADD, the ephedra plants 
were imported rather than grown in Cambodia, although the 
presence of ephedra seeds and a cleared portion of land 
suggest that the soil and climate were being tested as a 
potential new locale for ephedra cultivation, which typically 
only grows in China and India.  This is the first time DEA 
has seen the plant outside of those two areas ) generally 
the ephedrine is extracted and exported in powder or in 
tablet form for meth production elsewhere. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The tableting machine, which is capable of 
producing 3,000 to 3,600 pills an hour, had evidence of prior 
use as did a condensing tube.  However, all other equipment, 
including Pyrex dishes typical in meth labs and the triple 
neck flasks, were clean.  All equipment was made in China. 
DEA and AFP determined that although some minor testing may 
have commenced, CADD had hit the locations prior to 
full-scale production.  The Kampong Cham site was used to 
extract ephedrine from the ephedra plant, the Takeo site was 
a wooden shed behind a house which seemed to serve solely as 
a storage facility, one of the Phnom Penh sites was storage 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000203  002 OF 002 
 
 
and possibly used to make powder from the ephedrine oil, and 
the second Phnom Penh location (a nice two-story home where 
the two Chinese were arrested) was the planned manufacture 
site.  According to DEA, the different staging locations 
spread throughout the country are indicative of the way 
Chinese typically set up their methamphetamine production and 
trafficking rings. 
 
---------------------- 
NEW BOSS MAKING A NAME 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) This bust comes on the heals of General Ke Kim Yan's 
appointment as Deputy Prime Minister and the President of 
Cambodia,s National Authority for Combating Drugs and is 
seen by some as a way for him to show he is serious about 
drug crimes in Cambodia.  Others feel it is an opportunity 
for some of his new employees to get into his good graces. 
Of significance in this case is the apparent cooperation 
between several different police units throughout the 
investigation to include provincial anti-drug units, district 
police forces, and the CADD. Furthermore, according the DEA 
and AFP, the CADD used more caution with handling the 
chemicals compared to their experience two years ago in 
Kampong Speu.  However, the CADD confiscated and transported 
some equipment and dangerous chemicals, including xylene and 
sodium hydroxide which can quickly burn through the skin, to 
their headquarters and failed to secure them in ventilated 
rooms, which could cause serious health risks and 
contaminated food items stored in the same location. 
Furthermore, the prosecutor involved in the case was 
extremely angry that any of the items had been moved without 
his knowledge and presence. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT:  Cambodia has long been a route for drug 
traffickers, but in recent years we have seen both use and 
production on the rise.  According to DEA and others, this 
most recent bust provides further proof that Cambodia is on 
its way to becoming &Grand Central8 for drug production. 
The availability of chemicals, glassware, equipment, remote 
areas for staging, a high local and regional demand for the 
finished product and Chinese backing all create a perfect 
package for methamphetamine production.  The capacity of the 
police force in investigating such cases seems to have 
increased, although their knowledge and ability to contain a 
crime scene is still minimal.  According to Graham Shaw at 
World Health Organization, the local demand for meth will 
only grow due to the global economic crisis as more youth are 
unemployed, and may entice users and entrepreneurs to start 
into the meth production business.  Add to that an almost 
complete lack of quality drug treatment in the country and 
you have the potential of an unstable social and criminal 
situation developing within Cambodia.  END COMMENT 
RODLEY