Two Japanese nationals arrested last week in the capital were charged on Friday with international drug trafficking and drug production.

Deputy prosecutor for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court Meas Chanpiseth said he had charged both suspects with importing and exporting drugs, as well as producing drugs in the Kingdom.

“They have already been sent to jail in Phnom Penh,” Meas Chanpiseth said.

A police official with the anti-terrorism department in the Ministry of the Interior, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday a four-month investigation had led to the arrest last Wednesday of Yama Dak, 49, and Ta Kokan, 29, accused of sending several kilograms of methamphetamine through the post.

The official said Yama Dak was arrested at the Diamond Palace Hotel, in Chamkarmon district, and found to be in possession of one gram of methamphetamine.

Questioning of Yama Dak led to the arrest of his alleged accomplice, Ta Kokan, later the same day at the Atlantic Hotel, in Daun Penh district.

“According to the questioning of Ta Kokan, since 2008 he has sent an estimated eight kilograms of methamphetamine from Cambodia to Japan,” the police official said.

Defence attorneys for Yama Dak and Ta Kokan could not be reached for comment.

The two suspects will be detained until their trial.