A husband and wife were arrested by Kampong Cham provincial police on Sunday over allegations that they drugged an 18-year-old woman and forced her into prostitution for their financial gain, police said yesterday.

The couple were being questioned at provincial police headquarters and would be sent to court this week to be charged, Eang Vanny, deputy police chief in charge of combating human trafficking in the province, told the Post yesterday.

Eang Vanny said the woman had filed a complaint with police on November 14 and that officers from her division and drug-suppression police had arrested the suspects in Kampong Cham town’s Veal Vong commune on Sunday.

“The suspects forced the victim to use drugs until she lost consciousness, then they forced her to have sex with men so they could earn money,” Eang Vanny said.

“The suspects did not give the money [from the customers] to the victim.

“We are preparing the necessary documents in order to send the case to court,” Eang Vanny said.

Anyone found guilty of procuring a person to work as a prostitute faces between two and five years in jail, according to the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

The young woman was the girlfriend of the adoptive brother of the husband who, along with his wife, had allegedly drugged her and forced her into sex work, police said.

The adoptive brother was not under investigation as he had played no role in the alleged crime, they said.