The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday sentenced two Vietnamese men to 25 years in prison each for attempting to sell more than 1 kg of heroin, also fining them 60 million riel, or about $15,000.
Presiding Judge Heng Sokna sentenced Nguyen Yang Tong, 32, and Nguyen Yang Teuy, 40, for drug trafficking under Article 40 of the drug control law.
The two were arrested during a raid carried out by 10 police officers in Phnom Penh’s Prek Pnov district on December 13, in which police confiscated three packages of heroin weighing a total of 1,049.39 grams and worth an estimated $28,500.
Preurng Pheap, an officer in the education and broadcasting office at the Interior Ministry’s anti-drug department, explained after a hearing on September 16 how the bust was organized.
“We were in contact with Mr. Yang Teuy for two weeks before arranging an appointment to buy the drugs,” he said.
Police surrounded and arrested the two defendants when they arrived at the meeting place in Prek Phnov commune, he added.
