A Taiwanese man was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 15 million riel (about US$3,725) in Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday, on charges of international drug trafficking in Cambodia, according to Presiding Judge Duch Kimsorn.

Kuo “Jeffrey” Dayu, 43, a Taiwanese national and former manager of the RCI Garment Factory in Phnom Penh, was arrested on August 29, 2010, at Phnom Penh International Airport after customs officers found three packages of heroin weighing 99.5 grams hidden inside of his luggage while he prepared to leave the country for Taiwan.

“He violated the new Article 32 on illegal drug trafficking,” Duch Kimsorn said yesterday.

Kuo Daya was detained in Prey Sar prison on September 3 last year, after being charged with international drug trafficking, yet denied all charges against him in his hearing on March 10.

“I am not involved with these drugs, I think somebody put them into my bag to drop the accusation on me,” he said.

He added that the drugs were put in his luggage after a dispute with some of his employees at the factory.

“These Chinese [garment workers] put the drugs into my bag ... in order to make police arrest me,” he told the court.

“They got in an argument with me over their work at the factory.”