Cambodian police have arrested three Vietnamese people for trafficking girls to Malaysia where they were to be sold to brothels, officials said Sunday.

Police chief of the Cambodian anti-human trafficking office Prum Vutha said a Vietnamese woman, Nguyen Phuong, 38 was arrested while attempting to smuggle a 17-year-old Cambodian girl to Malaysia.

He said Phuong denied that she was involved with the trade but admitted that she planned to pass on the girl for others to take her to Malaysia.

"We have enough evidence to charge her for human trafficking, even though she tried to lie to us," Prum Vutha said, adding that the girl has returned to her home near the Vietnamese border.

To appear in court

Prum Vutha also said police had arrested a Vietnamese couple who had allegedly been involved with human trafficking since 1996.

Nguyen Huong, 42, and her husband, Nguyen Son were arrested at their Phnom Penh home last Friday for trading Vietnamese and Cambodian girls to Malaysia and were expected to appear in court on Monday.

It was the fourth time in four months that traffickers have been arrested while trading en-route to Malaysia.

Vietnamese passort holders require a visa for entry to Malaysia while Cambodians do not and police say girls are trafficked here first where they receive fake Cambodian passports before being shipped out. — AFP