A guard at the capital’s Prey Sar prison has been detained in the jail following his arrest on Thursday for allegedly smuggling methamphetamines into the facility inside a loudspeaker, officials said yesterday.

Dangkor district police chief Born Sam Ath said that 43-year-old prison guard Kong Sopheap was arrested by fellow guards at the prison’s Correctional Centre 1 on suspicion of drug trafficking and sent to the municipal court.

“The former prison guard was detained at Prey Sar prison after he was sent to the court,” he said, adding that police had confiscated three packages of methamphetamines from Kong Sopheap.

Prey Sar prison director Sun Lean said that the guard had been brought to the district police office after drugs were located inside the loudspeaker.

“I don’t know how long he had been delivering drugs to prisoners,” he said.

I told all prison guards they have to stop doing what they used to do in the past

Sun Lean added that he often spoke with prison guards about their duties and regulations as set out by the Interior Ministry.

“If we cannot arrest those prison guards [who are] maybe trafficking drugs in the prison then we cannot control the situation in the prison,” he said.

“I told all prison guards they have to stop doing what they used to do in the past and I will take strong action against [them].”

In July, former Prey Sar prison chief Mong Kim Heng was temporarily suspended along with four other staff in connection with “irregularities” at the facility.

Sorn Keo, spokesman for the general department of prisons at the Ministry of Interior, and municipal court deputy prosecutor Sok Roeun declined to comment.