A married couple was arrested yesterday for allegedly smuggling 71 kilograms of poisonous snakes in Kampong Chhnang province, a police official said. Kong Theary, 51, and his wife, 37-year-old Mao Rotha, were arrested at about midday as they tried to smuggle the snakes by car from Battambang to be sold to restaurants in Phnom Penh, Ros Vuthea, chief of police in Samaki Meanchey district’s Sethei commune, said yesterday.

Police confiscated the couple’s Toyota Camry, along with the boxes of snakes that were hidden inside and detained the suspects for questioning, he added. Some restaurants in the capital prepare snake as an expensive delicacy, and the reptiles can also be used in traditional medicines.