Phnom Penh Municipal Court has heard a case against a Cambodian man and Chinese woman accused of sending 402 grams of heroin through the post to a man in Taiwan in April last year.

Chinese national Chen Dan Dan, 25, was arrested in May after Jin Bin Jean, a resident of Taiwan, was apprehended while trying to pick up a package containing 402 grams of heroin at a Taiwanese airport.

Jin Bin Jean told authorities that the package was sent through the post by Chen Dan Dan.

Seng Sokha, 59, was arrested in July after a Taiwanese police report was sent to Cambodian anti-drug trafficking officials at the Ministry of Interior.

The report said Jin Bin Jean received up to 20 packages from Chen Dan Dan from April 13-29 last year.

Seng Sokha is accused of buying the drugs for Chen Dan Dan.

Presiding Judge Sous Sam Ath lambasted the Taiwan police report, saying it looked “like a love letter”.

“It is just a private letter,” he said. “It cannot be deemed legal, nor can the detention of the two accused without any evidence. Their arrest is based only on this unofficial report.”

During the hearing yesterday, Chen Dan Dan acknowledged sending a package to Jin Bin Jean in Taiwan, but said the package contained paintings.

“I was going to receive a US$500 commission for the paintings,” she said.

Seng Sokha said yesterday that there was no evidence that he was involved in drug trafficking, and claimed that Jin Bin Jean fabricated the story “to make problems for me”.

If found guilty on the charge of illegal cross-border drug trafficking, the pair face at least two years in prison, with the exact sentence dependent on the purity of the drug.