An Indonesian national was sentenced yesterday by Siem Reap Provincial Court to 30 years in prison and fined 40 million riel (about $5,000) for smuggling 2.5 kilograms of cocaine from Indonesia to Cambodia last year, a court official said.

Deputy prosecutor Srea Ratanak said 27-year-old Ita Amparawati was found guilty on charges of keeping, transporting and trafficking drugs.

Major Oum Sa Ath, chief of the Siem Reap Provincial Anti-Drug Police, said Amparawati had travelled from Indonesia to Siem Reap last July. She was arrested after customs police found three large packages of cocaine hidden in her luggage.

Neither Amparawati nor her defence lawyer could be reached for comment yesterday.

Large quantities of drugs – particularly cocaine and methamphetamines – have been seized at Cambodia’s airports in recent years. But while the traffickers – many of them young, foreign women – have been slapped with steep sentencing, few ringleaders have been uncovered.