The Counter Counterfeit Committee (CCC) of Cambodia’s Interior Ministry has suspended a company’s tobacco-manufacturing operations at a factory in the Sen Sok district of Phnom Penh after officials found that it was involved in the unlicensed production of tobacco products, according to a story in The Khmer Times.
Touch Yuthea, deputy secretary of the CCC, said that officials of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had found evidence of unlicensed production when they inspected the factory on June 18.
“We found that the facility had no permission to produce but we still don’t know if those cigarettes are fake,” Yuthea said.
A notice issued by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s deputy prosecutor Ngin Pich confirmed that police and CCC officials had suspended production at the factory. The notice said also that floor manager, Lin Ruibing, a Chinese national, had been questioned.
Yuthea said that, following the inspection, officials had searched for the owner, who was thought to be a Chinese national, but could not locate him.
“We are looking for the owner and other stakeholders behind this case,” he said.
“If the owner is running an illegal cigarette production facility then it is just a small offence,” he said.
“But if we find out those are fake cigarettes, then it’s a criminal offence.”
Officials confiscated packs of cigarettes with brand names such as Marlboro and LM, which are to be submitted as evidence in the case.
Production peccadillo
