Phnom Penh Municipal Police provisionally charged three people with drug trafficking and possession after confiscating 2 kilograms of heroin from them in an arrest last week.

National Police Anti-Drug Chief Mok Chito said his officers arrested So Soriya, 47, and two Vietnamese nationals – a man and a woman – in Phnom Penh on Thursday.

Police said they seized the heroin at Soriya’s home in Stung Meanchey commune. Soriya is a former soldier from Kratie province, according to Chito.

Read more: Is Cambodia's war on drugs working?

In a similar incident in May, a 36-year-old man in Stung Meanchey district was arrested under suspicion of transporting 50 kilograms of ice and heroin to Phnom Penh.

More than 9,000 people were arrested in the first six months of the year in a nationwide drug crackdown, but rights observers say the campaign has overburdened the Kingdom’s prisons and rehabilitation centres.

In May, a recovering heroin addict with HIV named Thhan Dang died after being detained at Prey Speu detention centre in Phnom Penh, where he was unable to access methadone and antiretroviral therapy.