Smuggling Aussie jailed in Cambodia

[BlueMystic]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/...ling-Aussie-ja iled-in-Cambodia/2005/07/20/1121539024449.html





Drug smuggling Aussie jailed in Cambodia

An Australian man of Cambodian descent has been sentenced to 18 years jail in Cambodia on a drug smuggling charge, a newspaper reports.

Ya Sakhan, a municipal court judge, found 23-year-old Yin Karat guilty during his trial, the newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Cambodia) reported.

It said the judge also ordered the man to pay a fine of 40 million riel ($A12,847).

Ek Sam Oeun, a 48-year-old peasant living in Cambodia who is a relative of Yin Karat, was sentenced to 10 years in jail on charge of conspiring to smuggle drugs in the case, it added.

Yin Karat's hometown in Australia was not available.

Attempts to reach the judge for comment were unsuccessful.

Nach Tri, the man' attorney, confirmed the trial took place but declined to comment when reached by telephone.

Police detained the two men after arresting 17-year-old Gordon Voung, an Australian of Asian decent, who attempted to smuggle 2 kilograms of opium out of Cambodia through Phnom Penh International Airport in January, an anti-drug police officer said.

Airport police caught Voung with small packs of opium strapped to his body when he tried to board a late night flight out of Cambodia, the police officer said, asking that he not be named due to the risky nature of his job.

Voung is currently serving a 13-year sentence in a Cambodian prison after being convicted in court in May.

His early confession led to the arrest of Yin Karat and Ek Sam Oeun, who helped pack the drug for him, the officer said.