Two former lumber sellers and a construction store owner have been arrested and charged with selling nearly a kilogram of methamphetamine to undercover police officers.

Luxury wood sellers Bun Ly, 43, Meas Sam Nang, 46, and store owner Ly Sophal, 45, were tried in Phnom Penh Municipal Court for drug trafficking after the associates’ June arrests in two separate busts in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor and Prampi Makara districts.

“They changed their occupation to drug trafficking … because it was easier and quicker money,” said Phnom Penh Municipal Judge Kim Dany.

Ly was arrested while attempting to sell half the stash to an undercover officer along a road in Dangkor district’s Dangkor commune on June 26, Dany said. Sam Nang and Sophal were arrested near O'Russey market later that day, after allegedly trying to sell the other half to an undercover officer there.

Police confiscated a total of 750 grams of methamphetamine, Dany said.

Verdicts are expected on March 4.