Illegal border entries closed in crackdown

Thet Sambath

Phnom Penh Post

BETWEEN 30 and 40 illegal border crossings in Banteay Meanchey province have been closed in an attempt to curb the smuggling of pigs, gas, petrol, fruits and expired perishable foods from Thailand to Cambodia, provincial officials said Wednesday.

“We have closed more than 30 illegal border crossing points along the border with Thailand to stop smuggling, and this closure is forever,” Banteay Meanchey deputy governor Im Phoansophal said.

He expressed concern about the smuggling of expired food – including fruits, raw chicken, goat meat and packaged products – that he said had sickened some Cambodians.

The smugglers, he said, “have brought in spoiled foods for people to eat, which is making people’s health deteriorate, and this has caused the state to lose income”.

He declined to provide any figures supporting this claim, though he accused local businessmen of resorting to smuggling in order to evade taxes.

“Businessmen have always used these illegal crossing points to smuggle their goods. They prefer to do things this way because they don’t want to pay tax on items, and they think it will cost less to just bribe local officials,” he said.

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