What Sand and Cocaine Have in Common

Despite a government ban, Cambodian dredgers are once again raking the floor of the Koh Pao River in search of vast quantities of sand. The risk of running afoul of the authorities is apparently far outweighed by the riches to be gained from exporting sand to Singapore, which desperately needs the granular commodity to expand physically. If anything, the ban on dredging in Cambodia—which followed the example set by Indonesia and other sand exporters—will simply drive up the price of sand to e...