Military Man Charged with Drug Trafficking

A military officer was charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday with drug trafficking in connection with the possession of nearly one kilogram of crystal methamphetamine in his rented room in the capital’s Por Senchey district, according to an anti-drug police official. Lieutenant Colonel Pann Sopheap, commander of the Anti-Drug Military Police Unit in Phnom Penh, named the suspect as Touch Sam Ath, a 39-year-old male military officer with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces who had been living in Kampong Lovear village in Por Senchey’s Kakab commune.

“He was charged by the prosecutor with two charges: drug trafficking and use of a weapon without authorization,” he said. Lt. Col. Sopheap added that the suspect had been arrested after municipal anti-drug military police forces, in collaboration with district military police, inspected rented rooms in Kampong Lovear village on Thursday night at about 9:30pm.

After checking his room, military police seized two large packages of crystal meth and an unlicensed pistol containing six rounds along with some drug paraphernalia. According to the Law on Drug Control, if found guilty Mr. Sam Ath will be punished with up to 20 years’ imprisonment. The suspect could not be reached for comment yesterday.

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