Cambodia jails French teen, others on drug charges

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian court has convicted three foreigners, including a French teenager, for trying to smuggle 2.2 kilograms (4.8 pounds) of heroin out of the country and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 23 to 27 years.

The 19-year-old French teen, Charlene Savarino, and 41-year-old Australian Ann Yoshe Taylor were arrested in September at the Phnom Penh International Airport after police found the heroin in their luggage.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday sentenced Savarino to 25 years in prison and Taylor to 23 years, and ordered both to pay $12,500 fines.

A Nigerian accomplice, 23-year-old Precious Chneme Nwoko, was subsequently arrested in Phnom Penh and was sentenced to 27 years in jail.

All three deny wrongdoing and say the luggage belonged to someone else.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/123230/cambodia-jails-french-teen-others-on-drug-charges/

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More on this story in Australian press

http://www.theage.com.au/world/australian-drug-smuggler-sentenced-to-23-years-in-cambodian-prison-20140528-zrr12.html

same text through ThaiVisa

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/729821-australian-drug-smuggler-sentenced-to-23-years-in-cambodian-prison/