Cannabis eradication in Kirivong
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Cannabis eradication in Kirivong documents the enforcement history of landrace cannabis cultivation in the Kirivong growing area of Kirivong district, Takeo province, Cambodia. Kirivong has been the primary target of Cambodia's annual eradication campaigns since at least 2016, and was identified by the NACD as the country's top marijuana-producing area in 2022.[1]
For context on the growing area, cultivation practices and market structure, see the main article: Kirivong.
Enforcement pattern
Operations typically intensify during the dry season (December-April), coinciding with the growing cycle. Enforcement is constrained by remote mountain terrain, community non-cooperation and a rapid replanting cycle. Commune police chief In Savuth described the tracking methods: "We looked for signs in the forest, footprints and traces of people walking on the rocks."[2] Deputy provincial governor Khan Sokha noted the difficulty of identifying growers "because they blend in with villagers who climb the mountain for forest products."[3] Deputy district police chief Yang Dara revealed in 2017 that an undercover agent had located plantations by posing as a honey or wildlife hunter.[4]
Arrests are rare. Cultivators typically flee before police arrive, and villagers refuse to identify plot owners. Provincial anti-drug bureau chief Phoeung Sarun described the persistent cycle: "When we crack down on marijuana plants in the west, growers secretly plant them in the east because this area is on the Cambodian-Vietnamese border."[5] Sarun claimed in August 2021 that education efforts had reduced cultivation by 60-70%, though subsequent operations suggest this was optimistic.[5]
Enforcement leadership
| Period | Chief | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Yuk Sarath (= Yuth Sarath) | Multiple 2017 articles |
| 2019 | Sim Meng | [6] |
| 2020-2021 | Yuk Sarath (returned) | Multiple 2020-2021 articles |
| Period | Commissioner | Source |
|---|---|---|
| -2021 | Sok Samnang | Multiple 2021 articles |
| Dec 2021- | Chheang Phannara | [7] |
Documented operations
The following table records individually documented eradication operations in Kirivong. The vast majority of operations go unreported in English-language media; Yuk Sarath's 2021 annual summary reported 174 locations burned that year against only seven individually documented operations below.
| Date | Plants | Locations | Area | Infrastructure | Commune/Village | Agency | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Feb 2017 | 25,409 | 73 | PBCC (2 villages) | Kirivong District Police | [4] | ||
| 10 Feb 2017 | 22,418 | 4 | PBCC | National campaign | [8] | ||
| ~16 Apr 2017 | ~25,325 | PBCC | [9] | ||||
| 23 Apr 2017 | 17,266 | 62 | PBCC (Chroy village) | Kirivong District Police | [9] | ||
| 27 Nov 2017 | 28,114 | 83 | PBCC | Provincial + District Police | [10] | ||
| 7 Dec 2017 | 12,541 | 40 | 62 ponds | PBCC | 68 officers deployed | [11] | |
| 16 Dec 2017 | 6,321 | Da Thlat Mountain | [12] | ||||
| 25 Jan 2018 | 21,371 | 63 wells | PBCC | District Police | [13] | ||
| Feb 2018 | 65,000 | Chroy village (Ba Yong mountain) | Takeo Provincial Military Police | [14] | |||
| 12 Mar 2018 | 5,047 | Ba Yong Mountain | [15] | ||||
| 29 Aug 2018 | PBCC | [16] | |||||
| 14 Oct 2018 | 3,452 | PBCC | [17] | ||||
| 17 Feb 2019 | 1,398 | 6 fields | 979 m² | 1 water storage | PBCC (radio tower, Chroy) | Provincial + District Police | [18] |
| late 2019 | 2,115 | 6 farms | PBCC (abandoned military base) | District + Commune Police | [6] | ||
| ~Jan 2020 | ~6,000 | 15 | Kirivong | [19] | |||
| 3 Feb 2020 | 776 | PBCC | District Police | [20] | |||
| 16 Feb 2020 | 3,315 | 13 | 1,013 m² | 7 ponds | PBCC (foothills) | Kirivong District Police | [19] |
| 21-22 Feb 2020 | 9 plantations | 1,022 m² | 4 reservoirs | Dup Angk Sreng ("Green Triangle") | District Police Inspectorate | [21] | |
| 24 Feb 2020 | Chroy village | Anti-Narcotics Task Force + District Police | [22] | ||||
| 5 Aug 2020 | ~15,000 | 8 farms | 2 ha | PBCC (foothills) | Provincial Anti-Drug + District Police | [23] | |
| 30 Jan 2021 | 20,000+ | 5 farms | PBCC (foothills) | District + Military + Local Police | [24] | ||
| 21 May 2021 | 8 | 2,732 m² | 5 reservoirs | PBCC (Dob Thmor Changkran) | Provincial + District Police; Border Guard 603 | [2] | |
| 25 May 2021 | thousands (seedlings) | 8 | ~2,000 m² | 6 water tanks | Toteung Mountain | Provincial + District Police | [25] |
| 12 Jun 2021 | 1 | 84 m² | 1 irrigation pond | Prey Ampok (Mt Ondong Thmar Bak) | District + Commune Police | [26] | |
| 6 Jul 2021 | (not counted) | 13 | 9 reservoirs | Multiple | Kirivong District Police | [27] | |
| 11 Aug 2021 | 5 farms | 3,189 m² | 4 reservoirs | Ta O | Kirivong District Police | [5] | |
| 3 Oct 2021 | 4 | 437 m² | 4 water storage | PBCC | Takeo Provincial Police | [3] | |
| 23 Jun 2022 | 10 | Ta O (Sla village) | Takeo Provincial Gendarmerie | [28] | |||
| 3 Feb 2025 | 3,365 | 6 water tanks | Bayong Kor range | [29] |
Seizures and arrests
Most operations result in crop destruction only, with no arrests. Notable exceptions include:
| Date | Seized | Suspect | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Aug 2018 | 13 kg dried | Female trafficker | Third trip transporting toward Vietnamese border | [16] |
| 3 Feb 2020 | hundreds of plants | Phorn Moch (35) | Cultivation on mountain; faced up to 2 years imprisonment | [19] |
| 24 Feb 2020 | 15.05 kg dried + 35 kg fresh + 1 scale | Vann Lim (64) | Cultivation and storage in Chroy Village; sent to provincial court | [22] |
Cumulative data
Police aggregate (2019-mid 2021)
A provincial police summary covering 2019 to mid-2021 provided the most detailed cumulative figures available:[2]
| Metric | Total |
|---|---|
| Operations | 97 |
| Locations burned | 443 |
| Water reservoirs destroyed | 282 |
| Dried marijuana confiscated | 80.5 kg |
| Total cultivated area | 60.97 hectares |
Annual summary (2021)
Kirivong district police chief Yuk Sarath provided year-end totals for 2021:[7]
| Metric | Total |
|---|---|
| Fresh marijuana seized | 250 kg |
| Dried marijuana seized | ~6 tonnes |
| Plantation locations burned | 174 |
| Reservoirs destroyed | 107 |
The 6 tonnes of dried, export-ready marijuana represents the largest documented seizure volume for any single year in Kirivong.
Infrastructure destruction
A consistent feature of Kirivong eradication is the targeting of irrigation infrastructure alongside standing crops. The scale of documented water infrastructure has declined in parallel with plant counts:
| Date | Type | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2017 | Ponds | 62 | [11] |
| Jan 2018 | Wells | 63 | [13] |
| Feb 2019 | Water storage | 1 | [18] |
| Feb 2020 | Ponds | 7 | [19] |
| Feb 2020 | Reservoirs | 4 | [21] |
| May 2021 | Reservoirs | 5 | [2] |
| May 2021 | Water tanks | 6 | [25] |
| Jul 2021 | Reservoirs | 9 | [27] |
| Aug 2021 | Reservoirs | 4 | [5] |
| Oct 2021 | Water storage | 4 | [3] |
| Feb 2025 | Water tanks | 6 | [29] |
Data notes
The news items dated 6 July 2021 and 25 July 2021 both cite the same Khmer Times article URL and contain nearly identical text. These likely represent a single operation entered twice; the July 25 entry has been excluded from the operations table.
The ~250,000 plant figure for 2017 (January-November) comes from district police chief Yuk Sarath. Only ~137,000 plants are accounted for across six individually documented operations, suggesting the majority of raids went unreported in English-language media. The same pattern applies to 2021, where 174 locations were burned according to Sarath's annual summary but only seven individual operations were documented.
See Also
References
- ↑ "Takeo's Kirivong district cited as Cambodia's top marijuana cultivation area." Khmer Times, 10 January 2023. [1]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ry Sochan. "Hunt on for Takeo marijuana growers." Phnom Penh Post, 1 June 2021. [2]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Police destroy marijuana plants in four locations in Kiri Vong district." Khmer Times, 3 October 2021. [3]
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Takeo marijuana plantation goes up in smoke." Khmer Times, 10 February 2017. [4]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Nov Sivutha. "Police destroy five marijuana farms in Takeo province." Phnom Penh Post, 12 August 2021. [5]
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Over 2,000 marijuana plants destroyed." Phnom Penh Post, January 2019. [6]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Takeo police chief vows war on weed." Khmer Times, 27 December 2021. [7]
- ↑ "Cambodian police destroy over 22,000 cannabis plants in southern province." Xinhua, 10 February 2017.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Marijuana king hunted." Khmer Times, 24 April 2017. [8]
- ↑ "Kirivong marijuana crackdown." Khmer Times, 27 November 2017. [9]
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Thousands marijuana plants seized in Takeo." Khmer Times, 8 December 2017. [10]
- ↑ "6,321 marijuana plants seized in Takeo." Khmer Times, 16 December 2017.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Kirivong district marijuana crackdown." Khmer Times, 25 January 2018. [11]
- ↑ "Police continue weed crackdown." Khmer Times, February 2018. [12]
- ↑ "Marijuana crop destroyed in Takeo." Khmer Times, 12 March 2018.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Trafficking arrest in Kirivong." Khmer Times, 29 August 2018.
- ↑ "Marijuana plantation discovered in forest." Phnom Penh Post, 14 October 2018.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Police hunt suspects in connection with 1,000 Takeo cannabis plants." Phnom Penh Post, 21 February 2019. [13]
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 "Over 3,000 weed plants up in smoke." Khmer Times, 17 February 2020. [14]
- ↑ Referenced in Feb 17 2020 article; Phorn Moch (35) arrested.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Kirivong 'Green Triangle': Cannabis cultivators caught." Phnom Penh Post, 21 February 2020. [15]
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Another Kirivong ganja bust." Khmer Times, 26 February 2020. [16]
- ↑ "Two hectares of marijuana found and destroyed in Takeo." Khmer Times, 5 August 2020. [17]
- ↑ "Police raid five marijuana farms and destroy more than 20,000 plants." Khmer Times, 30 January 2021. [18]
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Police destroy thousands of marijuana seedlings." Khmer Times, 25 May 2021. [19]
- ↑ "Police pull Kirivong cannabis plantation." Cambodia Expats Online, 14 June 2021. [20]
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Kirivong's police force burns illegal marijuana crops." Khmer Times, 6 July 2021. [21]
- ↑ "Marijuana plantations in Takeo destroyed by police." Khmer Times, 23 June 2022. [22]
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 [burn 3,365 marijuana plants in raid on Bayang Kor Mountain]. Landrace.Wiki News, 3 February 2025.