A 14-year-old boy was sent to court yesterday morning following his Sunday arrest for allegedly dealing methamphetamine in the capital’s Tuol Kork district, according to police.

Khat Khon Tith, police chief in Boeung Kak II commune, said police found a total of 68 small packages of drugs on the teenage boy on Sunday. He allegedly confessed to police that he was selling them for $6 each.

Khon Tith said the boy was homeless. “He was standing there to sell drugs,” he said. “We questioned him, but he did not answer. He was a child who begs for money on the street.”

Long Sao, head of Tuol Kork district anti-drug police, said the boy was sent to court yesterday morning, but he had not received an update on the court’s decision.

The age of criminal responsibility in Cambodia is 14.

Ly Sophana, spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, could not be reached for comment.

It’s not uncommon for minors to be used as drug mules in Cambodia. In July, an 8-year-old boy was arrested in the same commune for allegedly dealing crystal methamphetamine and sent to a rehabilitation centre.