Six people including Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese nationals were sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on December 7 after being arrested on December 5 for their involvement in prostitution in Sen Sok district’s O’Bek Ka’am commune.

Phnom Penh municipal police’s Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau chief Keo Thea said the suspects provided prostitution under the cover of massage services.

The six include one Thai woman, one Vietnamese woman and four Chinese, one of whom was a female manager of the massage parlour.

“It was a flagrant offence and our officers handled the case in accordance with legal procedures. Further action will be taken by the [municipal] court,” Thea said, declining to provide details of the operation.

But a district police officer who asked not to be named said the massage parlour, which he said was owned by a Chinese national, had been operating for several months.

The officer said district police had earlier informed the owner about measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 transmission, but the instructions were ignored.

The officer said authorities conducted the raid under suspicion that the parlour provided sexual services under the cover of massage services. The raid was coordinated by Phnom Penh Municipal Court prosecutor.

Police found some used and unused condoms, which were collected and sent to court as evidence.

In a separate case in the capital on December 5, Russey Keo district police cracked down on an illegal online gambling site in Russey Keo commune’s Samaki village.

Authorities arrested five Cambodian men who placed bets on football matches and two men who were in charge of the gambling place.

District police chief Heang Tharet said on December 7 that police also confiscated 14 sets of computers, 14 monitors and 14 game machines in the operation.

“We will send the case and relevant people to court for legal proceeding, because gambling or betting with money is illegal,” said Tharet.