Police and the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Drug Department will send an elderly Japanese man to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday after joint forces at Phnom Penh International Airport arrested him on Saturday in possession of 1,705g of drugs.

The deputy director of the Anti-Drug Department, Van Kosal, said on Monday that the 72-year-old Japanese man was being questioned and will likely be sent to court on Tuesday.

He said police may delay sending the suspect to court if more questioning had to be carried out.

“The suspect was not flying into Cambodia, but planning to bring the drugs out of Cambodia. After questioning is completed, the suspect will be sent to court,” he said.

Kosal said that according to the suspect’s confession, the 1,705g of methamphetamine was hidden in the side of his luggage and he intended to export it from Cambodia to Seoul, South Korea, before moving on to Japan.

State Secretariat of Civil Aviation spokesmen Chea Aun and Sin Chansereyvutha could not be reached for comment on Monday.

However, a police report said the arrest was made by customs officials, anti-drug police and police officers stationed at the airport.

The operation was led by Customs and Excise Office chief Lim Sambath.

The police report noted that the Japanese national planned to board a flight from Phnom Penh to Seoul and continue to Amore, Japan, his final destination.