The Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit sent two people to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday after their arrest the previous day for allegedly being involved in human trafficking in July last year.

Department of Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection deputy director Pak Youleang identified the suspects as a 30-year-old woman and a 29-year-old man who lived in Kampong Cham province’s Stung Trang district.

He said a joint effort, which included provincial police officials, arrested the pair in Me Sar Chrey commune’s Trapaing Chhouk village after obtaining an arrest warrant from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court presiding Judge Ros Samedy.

Youleang said: “We don’t know yet how many victims were trafficked across the border [to China], but we sent the suspects to the Municipal Court on January 14,” he said.

Kampong Cham provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection deputy police chief Eam Vanny said: “They were involved in the unlawful trafficking of Cambodian women to get married in China, but we are still uncertain as to the exact number of victims.”

Stung Trang district police chief Pak Cheat told The Post that the suspects were arrested on July 9, but said they lived in Sre Romduol village in Stung Trang district’s Dang Kdar commune.

Rights group Adhoc provincial coordinator Thim Narin said trafficking of women abroad from Kampong Cham province was far more prevalent in 2014 and had gradually decreased to only two cases last year.

“When victims attempted to obtain documents from local authorities, officials educated them on the challenges of travelling to China to work or marry, so the number of cases had gone down. Brokers no longer dare to commit human trafficking,” Narin said.