Drug Mules: Cambodian woman accused in Indonesia and Vietnamese Woman accused in Cambodia

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Cambodian woman accused of smuggling

Cheang Sokha

Embassy officials in Jakarta are conducting an investigation following the reported arrest of a Cambodian woman allegedly carrying 200g of methamphetamine in Indonesia’s West Java province.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, yesterday told the Post he has aware of the arrest and had ordered embassy officials to determine if she was a citizen.

The Jakarta Post reported late last week that officers from the Bandung Customs and Excise Office had foiled an attempt to smuggle some $31,000 worth of crystal meth through Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, West Java.

The news outlet said a 25-year-old Cambodian woman, who is three months' pregnant, carried out the alleged attempt. Bandung customs services and supervision head Jarot Jatnika said they were “alerted by her furtive movements”.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodian-woman-accused-smuggling

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Defendant says drugs did not belong to her

Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday heard the case of a Vietnamese woman accused of smuggling more than 1.5 kilograms of powdered methamphetamine from India to Cambodia through Phnom Penh International Airport in July of last year.

Presiding judge Sin Visal said yesterday that Vietnamese national Nguyen Thi Kim Nhi, 47, had been charged with drug trafficking.

During yesterday’s hearing, however, Nguyen maintained her innocence, saying she been paid $100 – plus her airfare – to bring the luggage into Cambodia, and did not know the drugs were in the bag until she was arrested.

“I do not recognise my charges because the drugs seized did not belong to me,” she said. A verdict is due on February 6.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/defendant-says-drugs-did-not-belong-her