Early yesterday morning, Cambodia’s General Department of Prisons teamed up with police and law enforcement from Phnom Penh, Kandal, Takeo, and Kep to carry out a massive prisoner transfer. The operation focused on moving inmates out of Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar Prison and splitting them up between the Kampot and Kep provincial prisons to finish out their sentences.
According to local authorities, the big move went smoothly from start to finish, with security tightened just as planned and no incidents reported. Locals who saw long convoys of police cars on the roads these past couple of days thought something major had happened, only to find out it was just cross-province overcrowding relief.
Prey Sar Prison has been dangerously overcrowded for years, something anyone passing by could easily sense. Moving these inmates off to Kampot and Kep is, at the end of the day, all about easing the heavy pressure on Phnom Penh's facilities, where those provincial lockups have a bit more breathing room and are easier to manage.
