PHNOM PENH - THREE foreigners - a Briton, a Pakistani and a Taiwanese-American - have been arrested in Cambodia for trying to smuggle 750 grammes of drugs out of the country, police said on Sunday.

Steven Bushel, Sha Hihan and Victor Chhan were arrested at midnight Friday in a hotel room where they were discovered with 450 grammes of crystal amphetamines known as 'ice' and 300 grammes of a white powder used to produce the drug, anti-drug police investigator Chea Leng told reporters.

'We have monitored them for almost three months and we knew that they were trying to smuggle the drug out of Cambodia,' he said.

The three men were being held at the Interior Ministry's anti-drug unit to await trial, he added.

Ice can be produced in rudimentary laboratories from a range of chemicals and resembles clear, chunky crystals that can be smoked, snorted or injected.

Although drug arrests have risen, Cambodia is becoming an increasingly popular trafficking point for methamphetamines and heroin, particularly since neighbouring Thailand toughened its stance on illegal drugs in 2002. -- AFP