Cambodia - Cambodia: Guns

In May 1999, Prime Minister Hun Sen rolled a bulldozer over 4,000 handguns and automatic weapons in a ceremony at the National Stadium to show the world that Cambodia was voluntarily disarming itself. Hardly. Of the half million handguns and automatic rifles in circulation in Cambodia, only about half are in the hands of the army and police. And only about 10 percent of the remaining weapons are registered. Nearly 70 percent of all Phnom Penh households possess at least one firearm. And schoolyard arguments are often settled by an angry parent tossing a hand grenade or firing a pistol into the air.

Hooligan Haven

The Interpol representative's office in Cambodia believes that at least 100 of Interpol's most wanted criminals are hiding in Cambodia. The fugitives are said to be taking advantage of Cambodia's relatively lax legal system and the present inability of Royal Cambodian Government (RCG) law enforcement agencies to meaningfully fight crime. Interpol was further reported to be concerned that the apparent influx of criminals may signal a rise in organized crime activities in Cambodia-a country that has already seen an upsurge in international drug trafficking attributable to deficient law enforcement abilities.

In addition, police have launched a major investigation into the operations of a Phnom Penh-based company linked to Yoshimi Tanaka, a Japanese Red Army member, on charges of using counterfeit U.S. dollars. Police in Phnom Penh believe that Kodama International Trading (KIT), run by Tang Cheang Tong, a Japanese citizen of Khmer-Chinese origin, helped Tanaka launder fake U.S. currency through its export-import operations. Tanaka was arrested on the Cambodia-Vietnam border on March 24, 1996, by Cambodian police, Interpol officials and U.S. federal agents after being accused of disposing of counterfeit dollars in the southeastern Thai resort of Pattaya. Cambodian customs officials and police were at various times offered up to US$40,000 in bribes to let him cross the border. Notorious as one of Japan's best-known fugitives, Tanaka was also wanted for his role in the 1970 hijacking of a Japanese airliner to Pyongyang, North Korea.