One of four Chinese nationals was put into pretrial detention at Preah Sihanouk’s provincial prison on Saturday for allegedly committing armed robbery.

The accused was charged with “robbery and possessing an illegal weapon”, said Kol Phally, provincial deputy police chief, on Sunday.

Phally told The Post a Chinese man, Ly Ker Xing, 24, was detained by Preah Sihanouk police on suspicion of robbing a taxi driver at gunpoint in the Mittapheap district’s Commune 3 on Friday night.

“During the arrest, police officers recovered from Ker Xing, a hand gun with three bullets, a Rolls-Royce with the licence plate 2BP-6666, and other evidence we suspect he had taken from the victim such as $500, a driving licence and a Cambodian ID card,” Phally said.

The accused is being held at the provincial prison after the court charged him.

Meanwhile, Preah Sihanouk provincial police are searching for three other Chinese suspects thought to be linked to the case.

A police report lodged at 8:40pm on Friday stated the victim, Kong Tibor, 31, said four Chinese people called him on WeChat and told him to take their passports and obtain visa extensions for them.

When he arrived to collect the passports, the group, driving a dark green Rolls-Royce, with the Phnom Penh licence plate 2BP-6666, robbed him at gunpoint, allegedly taking $500 in cash, a driver’s licence, a vehicle registration document and a Cambodian ID card.

Police said after the victim lodged the report, provincial criminal police and local police officers located one suspect at a nightclub at 11pm. The police detained him and confiscated the Rolls-Royce.