Aust drug smuggler jailed for 6 years in Cambodia

By South East Asia correspondent Karen Percy

A Cambodian court has sentenced an Australian man to six years prison for trying to smuggle 40 grams of the drug known as "ice" out of the country, a judge says.

Simon Peter Conway, 50, was convicted of drug trafficking in a trial on Tuesday and sentenced to six years and a $2,631 fine, Judge Chan Madina said.

He was arrested in October at Phnom Penh International Airport after authorities found 40 grams of the methamphetamine with him.

Conway's lawyer Dun Vibol says he has already filed an appeal seeking to have the prison sentence reduced.

"Conway confessed everything during the trial," he said.

"But we want his sentence to be reduced to the minimum."

He also added that Conway intended to bring the drug to Australia to use as a pain killer for a leg injury.

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.