An alleged human trafficker was charged and another escaped yesterday after a roadside stop revealed they were transporting two women to Phnom Penh so they could fly to Australia for marriage.

Major Chea Yorn, deputy chief of the Kandal Provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Unit, said that farmer Roeun Run, 44, was charged with trading the young women in preparation for the cross-border transfer and the production of fake passports.

Captain Bun Yong, deputy chief of Khsach Kandal District Police, said the suspect was arrested as he was transporting the women – aged 17 and 19 – from Kampong Thom province’s Santhuk district to the capital by taxi.

Another suspect, identified by police as Sok Ry, a 30-year-old woman, escaped during a police inspection of the car.The victims told police that the suspects had promised to pay their parents $600. Police are looking for the woman who escaped.