PHNOM PENH, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A total of 652 people have been arrested in Cambodia for drug-related crimes in the first week of the government's anti-drug campaign, which officials say aims to suppress drug trafficking while boosting rehabilitation services for drug users, local media reported on Monday.
Over the first seven days of the year, 261 cases resulted in the arrest of the 652 people, including 371 suspected drug traffickers and 281 alleged drug users, said Chhay Kim Khoeun, a senior National Police official working on a new anti-drug committee.
"We have educated some people who just used drugs one or two times. And some people who were arrested, we have sent to court or centers for drug addicts," Lt. Gen. Kim Khoeun was quoted as saying by the Cambodia Daily.
The stepped-up anti-drug measures, announced last month in response to reports of rising abuse, will include increased law enforcement, rehabilitation and education, officials said.
According to the National Authority for Combating Drugs, the authorities had cracked down on 4,191 drug-related cases in 2016, arresting 9,802 suspects with a total of over 175 kg of drugs.
