PHNOM Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced two Vietnamese men to two years each in prison after finding them guilty of attempting to sell 40 ecstasy pills in May.

Ly Heng and Ngieng Yong Fong were arrested on May 20 on suspicion of drug dealing, after 40 ecstasy pills were confiscated as they attempted to sell the drugs to a third party, known to the court as Yoeung.

Both suspects denied the charges during testimonies delivered to the court at the hearing yesterday, but later acknowledged their guilt following questioning by prosecutors.

Ly Heng, a motorbike taxi driver, told the court that he had purchased one pill for personal use at a cost of US$5, “in order to empower my energy and not feel sleepy”.

Ngieng Yong Fong told the court that he had ordered the supply for the unknown third party from a drug dealer named David, and that he was simply acting as a middle man between the two parties.

“Yoeung counted on me to buy the drugs for him,” he said.

But prosecutor Hing Bunchea rejected both denials, claiming the testimonies conflicted with previous statements made by the accused to police officials that they “bought the ecstasy pills for $5 per pill and sold them for a $7.50 profit at a night club, because the ecstasy drug is a drug that makes happy and wavy feelings”.

“You don’t have any hard evidence to support your testimonies,” he added.

Judge Din Sivuthy also ordered the pair to pay a fine of 2 million riel (US$492) each.