The Siem Reap Provincial Court on Sunday charged seven men involved in trafficking 53.77g of methamphetamine.

The group was arrested during a crackdown in Sala Kamroeuk commune in Siem Reap town on Thursday.

Provincial court spokesman Yin Srang told The Post on Sunday that the provincial Military Police sent the men to an investigative judge on Saturday who decided to place them in pre-trial detention.

“The court’s official charges will be based on individual offences and the Law on Drug Control,” said Srang.

The Provincial Military Police’s anti-drug bureau head Khieu Chandara on Sunday said the men had been monitored by the Military Police for many days before their arrest under suspicion of transporting and distributing illegal drugs.

The crackdown was carried out by provincial Military Police at around 11am on Thursday in Ta Vien village, said Chandara. During the operation, the men fired at the authorities with a Type 54 pistol, but nobody was injured.

He said after the ringleader was arrested, authorities seized 14 packages of powdered methamphetamine weighing 53.77g, the Type 54 pistol with 23 bullets, five mobile phones and other drug-related equipment.

“At first, the authorities detained the ringleader who was selling drugs. When they asked him about his accomplices, they shot at the officials,” said Chandara.

He identified the seven men as Seng Raksmey, 28, Sam Dara, 29, Heng Vichet, 24, Choun Tola, 17, Ith Po Ong, 27, Keo Visith, 26, and Duong Kim, 20.