Two RCAF soldiers appeared in Kompong Cham provincial court Thursday on charges of smuggling amphetamine pills, police said.
The pair reportedly confessed to transporting the 6,000 pills seized during their arrest Tuesday, but claimed they were only acting as middlemen for a more powerful distributor.
“I acknowledge that the two have no ability to buy drugs with their own money. [I assume] They were employed by other people having large amounts of money,” said Chou Pi Chhoura, chief of Stung Treng provincial penal police.
Sun Chan, 31, and Pheap Sokha, 23, of Stung Treng province’s RCAF Battalion 101 at the Laos-Cambodia border, were arrested Tuesday afternoon at a Kompong Cham district port. Stung Treng provincial police assisted in the arrest.
The suspects said this was the second time they had ferried drugs between an undisclosed wholesaler and buyer for a small fee, said Kompong Cham deputy provincial police chief Seng
Sokim.
On a previous occasion, they delivered 12,000 pills in Stung Treng province, Seng Sokim said. They would not disclose how much they were paid for either mission, he added.
The two suspects are currently held in Kompong Cham provincial jail.
Police believe at least three more people are involved in the case, Seng Sokim said. He would not reveal the names or nationalities of any other suspects.
Chou Pi Chhoura said he wants Kompong Cham police to pass the case to the National Drug Authority in Phnom Penh, saying further investigation of the case could implicate high-ranking officials.
