Two foreign nationals were sent to Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison yesterday after attempting to high-tail it away from Paragon supermarket with 17 cartons of cigarettes last week.

The suspects – Dutch national Johan Becker, 59, and American national Jeffery Alan Adams, 51 – were charged at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday before being remanded into custody.

Becker was seen on Friday putting the cigarettes into a bag while the men walked around the supermarket before handing it to Adams who walked out of the store, according to a local official. Adams made his getaway on a waiting moto, while Paragon security detained Becker.

The following day, police arrested Adams at his rented apartment in Phsar Kandal I commune.

Prum Yan, a clerk at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said that the two men were charged with “stealing 170 boxes of cigarettes” from the supermarket in Daun Penh District’s Chey Chumneas commune.

“They both were charged this morning by the Municipal Court’s prosecutor with stealing, and their case now has already been transferred to an investigative judge for further investigation and a verdict,” he said.

Attempts to reach the two men were unsuccessful yesterday.