A Cambodian immigration official arrested in Thailand in an arms smuggling case is the son of a “powerful” person in Koh Kong province, according to the head of the Interior Ministry’s Immigration Department.

Speaking on Monday night, Sok Phal, the immigration chief, declined to elaborate further on the background of Leang Piseth, a 29-year-old officer who he said was only recently transferred to the Immigration Department from the National Police.

He said that Piseth was a rogue official who “wanted to get rich” and that the case was “not strange”. “Frankly speaking, this officer in Koh Kong is not the child of a powerless [person] but a powerful [person], but [they] have not revealed their faces,” Phal said.

Piseth was arrested on June 3 in Thailand near the border with Koh Kong as he approached the crashed truck of a Thai air force officer discovered to be transporting a cache of weapons.

Thai media have reported that Piseth also had four guns in his white Cambodian-plated four wheel drive.