A Vietnamese woman and a Cambodian man remain under questioning in Phnom Penh after being arrested on Sunday on charges of allegedly trafficking in 202 small packets of drugs.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman Kuch Kimlong said on Tuesday that the Vietnamese suspect, Tun Chheng, 24, and Srey Vichet, 28, are being questioned by the prosecutor.

A military police officer who asked to remain anonymous said on Tuesday that a 10-year-old boy was also with them.

Russey Keo district Military Police had been investigating Vichet for selling drugs and bought some from her on July 12.

Vichet delivered the drugs as promised and was arrested. He then told police he bought the drugs from a Vietnamese woman at Phsar Toch Market in Tuol Sangke I commune, Russey Keo district.

Police had Chheng show them the woman’s house where they retrieved 202 small packets of methamphetamine and a scale. A boy who was in the house was not detained as he is a juvenile.

Police have made arrests in more than 4,000 drug cases in the first six months of the year, a 27 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2019.

The police detained more than 8,000 drug offenders, 26 per cent more than in the same period in 2019, according to the Ministry of Interior.

Of them, the report said 8,369 were Cambodians, 96 Vietnamese, two Laotians, three Thai, 13 Chinese, and one each being Burmese, Indonesian, Singaporean, Japanese, and Nigerian.