A former military officer and his 12-year-old daughter were convicted of trafficking methamphetamine yesterday, though only one will see the inside of prison.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court judge Chaing Sinath said Chhay Chim, 50, a former captain in the National Military Police, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $3,000. His daughter’s two-year sentence was suspended.

The girl was arrested near her house in September after she was caught selling drugs in Tuol Kork district’s Tuol Sangke commune, said Major Bun Thy, deputy chief of the Municipal Anti-Drug Police Unit. Based on her confession, police detained her father the same day, seizing 31 grams of methamphetamine and a loaded handgun.

Chim yesterday claimed he was set up.

“The drugs did not belong to me; it belonged to the police,” he said, adding that city police officers had plotted against him after already arresting his two sons on drug charges.