A Laotian soldier and an accomplice, both aged 18, were yesterday sent to Stung Treng Provincial Court and charged with trafficking illegal drugs after they were caught smuggling close to 2,000 tablets of illegal drugs across the border, according to provincial military police.

Soldier Sumphorn Vongsalat and farmer Loyhuong Hansek, both from Champasak province in Laos, were stopped by military police who discovered 1,997 pills of methamphetamine known as “yama”, said provincial military police crime office chief Siv Samet.

Police also confiscated 16 AK-47 rifle bullets, an unidentified powder, a motorbike and a mobile phone. “Vongsalat is a [Laotian] soldier,” Samet said. “We have cracked down many big cases like this so far.”

Provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc Hou Sam Ol said most of the illegal drugs in the province were smuggled from Laos.

“They make it through to Stung Treng through an illegal forest checkpoint,” he said.