Three people were charged with the illegal operation of a brothel in Phnom Penh yesterday, according to Ek Chheng Huot, deputy prosecutor of Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

Gove Vuoch Leang, 29, the guesthouse owner, and two accomplices were arrested on Saturday in Veal Vong commune, Prampi Makara district, along with 11 male sex workers.

“Gove Vuoch Leang was charged with the illegal operation of a business, by providing sexual services to gays and old women in Phnom Penh. The other two people were charged as accomplices,” he said, declining to identify the accomplices.

He added that all 11 sex workers were being sent for education at the youth rehabilitation centre in the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation in Phnom Penh.

Keo Thea, director of the municipal Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Office in the Ministry of Interior, said on Saturday police raided the guesthouse operating illegally as a brothel on Street 115 in Veal Vong commune.

“This is the first time we have found and cracked down on the illegal operation of sexual service providers for gays and old women in Phnom Penh. We are now working hard in researching and cracking down other illegal sexual service operations as well as anti-human trafficking activities,” he said yesterday.