A Cambodian woman charged this week with human trafficking along with two Vietnamese nationals denied allegations of attempting to sell a three-month- old boy and two Vietnamese women to a Malaysian-based crime ring.
Ros Mayan, 33, and two Vietnamese suspects Lam Thi May, 40, and Nguyen Taing, 44, were brought to Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning on Wednesday.
As she entered investigating Judge Kong Sarith’s chambers, Ros Mayan burst into tears and told reporters she did nothing wrong.
“I don’t know anybody in Malaysia,” she said. “I did not get any money from anybody in Malaysia.”
Police on Monday said Lam Thi May was attempting to take the three-month-old boy to Banteay Meanchey province, where Ros Mayan planned to meet her and act as the boy’s mother and take him to Thailand for about $25.
Police said Lam Thi May led them to the women’s alleged partner, Nguyen Taing. He was caught and accused of planning to trafficking two 20-year-old Vietnamese women to Malaysia.
Ros Mayan said she had been living in Thailand for 24 years, where she worked on farms.
She said she was arrested when she entered Cambodia to obtain a border pass on Dec 16, but did not know why.
The infant and the Vietnamese women, meanwhile, are under the care of the Municipal Social Affairs Department, said Meng Say, chief of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Unit.
“I don’t know what province the boy is from,” he said. “We don’t know whether his parents sold him or not.”
Police are seeking his parents, he added.