Police raided a Banteay Meanchey guesthouse on Saturday afternoon and arrested 14 men carrying Bangladeshi passports, officials said yesterday.

"They were staying at Guesthouse 999, where they were arrested," said Sim Sam Arth, chief of the Poipet International Checkpoint's immigration office.

"They have passports, but they entered Cambodian territory illegally. They did not have entry documents."

The men, all between ages 20 and 30, were forwarded to the General Immigration Department in Phnom Penh within 30 minutes of the arrest.

Sam Arth would not say whether the men had crossed into Cambodia from Thailand, what they intended on doing in Cambodia or whether they would be deported.

Orm Lon, Banteay Meanchey deputy police chief in charge of immigration, confirmed that his officers assisted in the arrest of the 14 men, and referred any further questions to the General Immigration Department.

Sok Phal, head of the Interior Ministry's Immigration Department, refused to talk to reporters yesterday.