Two Chinese nationals and a Cambodian broker will face Phnom Penh Municipal Court this morning on allegations of trafficking women into China’s bride trade, after arrests were made through careful police work and a pinch of luck.

The three were arrested on Friday in two separate cases of trafficking, according to Phnom Penh anti-human trafficking police chief Keo Tha. Suspect So Chenda, 30, allegedly duped a victim into a Chinese marriage last year.

Despite Chenda’s promises of finding work for the victim in China, she found her a husband instead. The victim escaped and returned to Cambodian soil. But when the victim happened to cross paths with her broker on Friday, she alerted police, who arrested Chenda.

In the second case, Shi Fasong, 34, and Zhang Zhandao, 33, were allegedly on the cusp of trafficking three would-be victims to China from Bat Dav commune, Ksach Kandal district in Kandal province.

Anti-trafficking police snatched the pair at Washington Guesthouse in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district. The pair had been under police observation. Shi and Zhang had completed all documents and were ready to transport the victims north in a matter of days, Tha said.

It’s the second preventive arrest in the space of a month; in late March, three would-be Khmer brides were repatriated to Cambodia from Vietnam en route to China.