The Phnom Penh Municipal court yesterday sentenced two Vietnamese women to five years in prison for attempting to mail some 3kg of methamphetamine pre-cursor substances to Australia in a box of bras.

According to the deputy chief of the Interior Ministry’s anti-drug police, Brigadier General San Suthy, the suspects, Nguyen Thi Thu Suong, 48, and Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, 28, were busted in October 2014 after officers inspected a package they had sent to Australia via the Phnom Penh Post office.

Concealed among 12 bras, were seven metal cans and four plastic jars containing about 3kg of pseudoephedrine – a common precursor to produce methamphetamine, known widely as ice – which tested at between 62 per cent and 90 per cent pure, Suthy said.

Yesterday, Phnom Penh Municipal Court presiding judge Thlang Phaneth found the pair guilty of illegally trafficking pseudoephedrine under Article 54 of Cambodia’s anti-drug law.

“According to the testimony and based on the evidence seized from the two accused, the court has found that they are guilty,” said Phaneth said.

As well as the jail time, the pair were given a $2,500 fine each.

Outside the court, Thi Thu Suong said she would discuss appealing the verdict with her defence lawyer.