caught with heroin strapped to his body at Phnom Penh airport

The Federal Government has confirmed that the Australian Federal Police did play a role in the arrest of an Australian teenager who's been jailed for drug trafficking in Cambodia.

In a case which has similarities to Bali Nine drug trafficker Scott Rush, Gordon Vuong was caught with heroin strapped to his body at Phnom Penh airport in January last year.

His mother has told the Bulletin magazine that she gave the AFP information about her son, but she says she hoped the police would use it to stop him leaving Australia to traffic drugs.