Military Cop Convicted of Drug Trafficking

In two of the longest sentences ever handed down by a Cam­bodian court, a Taiwanese man and a Cambodian military police of­ficer were convicted of heroin traf­ficking on Tuesday and sentenced to 20 years and 18 years in prison, court officials said.

Taiwanese national Liv Yung Fu, 38, and Cambodian military policeman Ky Tan, 45, were also fined $1,250 each by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

The men were ar­­rested after an October police raid on a Tuol Kok district house where 35 kg of heroin and 5 kg of am­­phetamine powder were dis­cov­ered. The owner of the house, Lim Sam­nang, an RCAF soldier, was arrested and his subsequent confession led police to later arrest Liv Yung Fu, Ky Tan and with 13 oth­er suspects.

Lim Samnang was HIV-positive when he was arrested on Oct 1, the court heard. He died in detention April 15. The 13 other suspects were released for lack of evidence.

Police said at the time that the Taiwanese and Chinese suspects among the 13 arrested were linked to the Chinese Triad group known as the 14K. RCAF military intelligence Major General Dom Hak was also arrested but later re­leased for lack of evidence.

At court Tues­day, both Liv Yung Fu and Ky Tan denied any involvement with drug production and trafficking. Ky Tan said he had known Lim Samnang when they were in the same police unit, but that they had lost contact.

Liv Yung Fu told the court that he and Lim Sam­nang had been partners in an air conditioner im­port and installation business.

Presiding Judge Oun Bunna dis­missed both denials. He said police had searched Liv Yung Fu’s house twice and found drugs on both oc­casions.

In response to Ky Tan’s de­nials, Oun Bunna said, “Lim Sam­nang confessed clearly that he wanted to tell about you, but now that he is dead you are trying to deny the charges.” The court was told that Lim Samnang confessed that Ky Tan had helped transport a truckload of drugs across the Thai border at Poipet.

According to Lim Samnang’s con­fession, which was read out in court, his group kept 90 kg of he­roin out of a total 200 kg that was smu­g­gled out of the Golden Tri­angle region with the help of Liv Yung Fu and Ky Tan. When po­lice searched his house they found only 35 kg of heroin, leading in­vestigators to be­lieve the mis­sing 55 kg had al­ready been smug­gled abroad, the court heard.

In his closing statement, Pros­ecutor Sok Roeun described the pair’s denial as “some kind of trick; they deny their in­volvement only because Lim Sam­nang is dead.” Defense lawyer Chhy Sam­bath said he would appeal the verdict.

Graham Shaw of the UN Of­fice on Drugs and Crime said  Tues­day that the sentence was “a ma­jor step forward.”

“The case is a clear demonstration that drug traffickers cannot operate with impunity,” Shaw said. He wondered, however, how long a sentence Liv Yung Fu and Ky Tan would actually serve.