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Ecstasy threatens rainforests in Cambodia mongabay.com February 25, 2009 "The factories had been set up to distill 'sassafras oil'; produced by boiling the roots and the trunk of the exceptionally rare Mreah Prew Phnom trees and exported to neighbouring countries," said FFI. "The oil is used in the production of cosmetics, but can also be used as a precursor chemical in the altogether more sinister process of producing MDMA – more commonly known as ecstasy. The distillation process not only threatens Mreah Prew Phnom trees, but damages the surrounding forest ecosystem. Producing sassafras oil is illegal in Cambodia." The raids followed a month-long investigation by FFI and the Ministry of Environment which turned up several newly built sassafras factories run by Vietnamese syndicates in Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary. The sassafras oil is usually smuggled to Thailand or Vietnam.
"These factories are located close to streams and by-products from the distillation process causes significant pollution of the environment. In addition, the distillation process itself uses enormous quantities of fuel wood from other rainforest trees. Finally, the factory workers typically engage in poaching wildlife from the surrounding forests to supplement their basic diets. Thankfully, on this occasion we were able to locate and destroy the factories before they were in full production mode." FFI says the number of Mreah Prew Phnom processing plants in the western Cardamom Mountains has fallen significantly from more than 75 in 2006 since it launched its monitoring effort. "Recent law enforcement operations clearly show that this threat still persists and that we must remain ever vigilant in our effort to suppress this and other forest crimes." Wood said. "The rangers deserve our highest praise for their efforts in combating forest crime. They are at the front line of conservation and without their dedication and efforts the Mreah Prew Phnom trees would certainly have become locally extinct." View Larger Map Related articles Illegal drug use destroys rainforests November 18, 2008 Colombian officials have re-iterated their claim that cocaine use in rich countries is driving deforestation in Colombia, reports The Guardian. Speaking to a conference of police officers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos Calderon said that 133,000 hectares of rainforest are cleared each year for coca cultivation. Coca is the raw ingredient for cocaine production. Aquarium fish trade linked to cocaine, timber smuggling in Brazil August 10, 2008 Smugglers are using the ornamental fish trade to traffic cocaine and illegally logged timber according to a report from Sérgio Abranches of O Eco, a leading Brazilian environmental web site. SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
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