Three Chinese nationals were charged by Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday with drug trafficking after they were caught with more than three kilograms of Ecstasy allegedly intended for China, a senior municipal police official said.

Lin Luy, 33, Wup Otsang, 27, and Chen Yung, 30, were charged yesterday, according to Brigadier-General Hy Prou.

“They were arrested by municipal police at the Asia Hotel in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district as they were attempting to move over three kilos of drugs from Cambodia to their country [by plane],” he said.

“They were charged by the municipal prosecutor with drug trafficking and they have now been sent to prison to await their future trials.”

The men were arrested on January 24 with 20 large packages of Ecstasy containing more than 10,000 pills in the first major drug bust of the year in Phnom Penh, according to Prou.

The charged men could not be reached for comment.