Five people arrested during an anti-drug police raid on a house in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town on Saturday were sent to court yesterday.

In a separate incident, 12 arrested in a raid in the province’s Sisophon district on Sunday will be sent there today.

A Banteay Meanchey Provincial Court judge yesterday charged four of the five suspects involved in the Poipet bust with drug trafficking, said Phin Sindet, director of the provincial anti-drug police bureau.

The other suspect in that case is under the age of 14, thus under the age of criminal responsibility, and therefore cannot be sent to the provincial jail like the other defendants.

“Only the court has the right to decide to send him to a drug rehabilitation centre, but the [provincial] centre does not accept teenagers under 14,” Sindet said.

“So we have to hand him over to his parents, and ask them to sign a contract [promising their son will not re-offend].”

The 12 people arrested in Sisophon on Sunday are a mix of suspected drug dealers and users, Sindet said.

It is not yet clear whether they will all face drug-trafficking charges today, or if charges will vary, he added.