Background
The National Police of Cambodia coordinates provincial law-enforcement units to carry out anti-narcotics operations and publishes operational results that record arrests and seized substances. On 9 May 2026, the National Police of Cambodia reported 21 drug-related cases and the detention of 52 individuals nationwide.
Police reporting includes detailed seizure quantities to support case processing and inter-agency records. Seized substances recorded by police from the 9 May operations comprised 1,036.80 grams of methamphetamine (ice), 246.01 grams of ketamine, and 4.36 grams of MDMA.
Enforcement Actions
Authorities described the 21 cases by operational type: one alleged trading case (resulting in two detainees, no females), 15 transport/storage cases (35 detainees, including two females), and five use cases (15 detainees). The nationwide tally of 52 detainees included two women.
Institutional Role
Reported operations on 9 May involved at least five police units operating across the capital and multiple provinces. The breakdown by location given in police reports was: Phnom Penh — two use cases with seven detainees; Battambang — six storage/transport cases (17 detainees, two female) plus one use case (one detainee) with small seizures of ice (3.76 g) and MDMA (4.36 g); Kratie — five storage/transport cases (nine detainees) plus one use case (one detainee) with 6.54 g of ice seized; Siem Reap — three storage/transport cases (eight detainees) plus one use case (six detainees) with 7.89 g of ice seized; Svay Rieng — one trading case (two detainees) and one storage/transport case (one detainee) with the largest reported seizures of ice (1,018.61 g) and ketamine (246.01 g).
Policy Context
Drug enforcement operations are conducted by police units that collect and report seizure and arrest data to enable prosecution and inter-agency oversight. Regular publication of operational results provides a record for tracing enforcement activity and for analyzing trends in geographic distribution and substance types.
