Dead Britons mistook heroin for cocaine Businessman Mark Ganley, 33, and journalist David Hunt, 36, actually snorted a lethal form of heroin known as 'China White', an inquest heard.
The pair were found dead in their beds wearing only towels at the Royal Highness Hotel in the capital city Phnom Penh on February 17 this year.
A plastic bag with 0.13g of white powder heroin and a 2,000 reil note wrapped into a tube were found beside them, with a bottle of Tiger beer and some cigarettes.
A Cambodian report concluded they most likely died from a "drug overdose absorbed through the nose".
Embassy officials in Cambodia told Mr Ganley's family the powder was 'China White' heroin, the inquest heard.
Detective Constable Annie Hodge, a drugs intelligence officer with Hampshire Police, told Southampton Coroner's Court that most heroin in the UK is brown.
But she said 'China White', which was seen in Britain in the 80s but is not common today, is white and twice as strong.
She recalled the film Pulp Fiction and said: "There a person thought they were taking cocaine and in fact in that film they snorted 'China White'."
She said the two drugs are taken differently, heroin is injected or smoked, known as "chasing the dragon", while cocaine is snorted.
She added: "It's my opinion these two young men snorted what they thought was a line of cocaine and in fact they snorted 'China White'.
"If they thought it was a line of cocaine the amount contained in that line would have been a lot higher than an established addict would inject."
She said snorting a line of 'China White' which is 80 per cent to 100 per cent pure would cause death quickly.
Mr Ganley, a company director, lived in Thailand, but had family in Portswood, Southampton. Mr Hunt lived in a flat in Portswood and had worked for three years for Portsmouth-based news agency M&Y.
Coroner Keith Wiseman recorded a verdict of accidental death and gave his "sincere condolences" to the families of the men.
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