An Australian woman arrested at Phnom Penh airport has been charged with drug trafficking by Cambodian authorities.
Ve Thi Tran, 37, was taken into custody on Saturday after allegedly trying to smuggle almost two kilograms of heroin in her luggage as she was checking in to go back to Australia via Hong Kong.
The arrest followed a tip-off from the Australian Federal Police.
Tran was charged on Wednesday at Phnom Penh Municipal Court with "unlawful keeping, transporting or trafficking of narcotics substances" according article 40 of Cambodia's law on drug control, Interior Ministry's anti-drug department bureau chief In Song said.
Mr Song said the drugs had likely come from the Golden Triangle, a hot spot for opium production where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet.
Hun Samnang, head of the anti-transnational crimes unit with the national police, said Tran arrived in Cambodia on December 29 and it was not known if she had trafficked drugs from Cambodia to Australia before.
He added Tran was likely to be a mule hired to carry the drugs but declined to elaborate on the investigation.
If convicted, Tran faces a sentence of between 30 years and life imprisonment and a fine of 40 million riels ($12,759) to 100,000,000 riels ($31,910) based on the amount and purity of the drugs.
She will be sent to prison for her pre-trial detention, Mr Song said.
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