Cambodia’s latest large-scale raid underscores the government’s firm stance against online scam networks, an Interior Ministry spokesman said, stressing that authorities will not ease their crackdown on cyber fraud.
Under mounting pressure from China, Cambodian authorities launched a major operation against scam gangs, detaining more than 2,000 people in one of the country’s biggest enforcement actions to date.
According to the Interior Ministry, nearly 1,800 Chinese nationals were among those arrested. Police carried out the operation early Saturday morning (Jan 31) at an online fraud compound in Bavet, the largest city in Svay Rieng province, near the Vietnamese border.
In total, 2,044 foreign nationals were detained, including 1,792 from mainland China, five from Taiwan, 177 from Vietnam, and 179 from Myanmar. The remaining suspects came from other Southeast and South Asian countries.
Authorities did not clarify whether the detainees would be extradited to their home countries. However, Chinese nationals are expected to be handed over to Beijing, following previous cases such as alleged cybercrime figure Chen Zhi, chairman of Prince Holding Group, who was extradited earlier this month on charges including fraud, illegal operations, and money laundering.
Local media described the Bavet operation as the largest raid since Cambodia launched its nationwide campaign against online fraud. Interior Ministry spokesman Touch Sokhak said the operation demonstrated that Cambodia would remain hostile territory for scam operators.
“The Cambodian government will never relax its crackdown on online scam criminals,” Sokhak said, adding that Cambodia is “not a safe haven, but a hell for criminals.”
The compound in Bavet consisted of 22 buildings operating under the cover of a casino and had reportedly been used for telecom and online fraud for years. Similar enforcement actions were carried out simultaneously in other regions, including Sihanoukville province, about 250 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh.
The intensified crackdown has forced several scam centres to shut down voluntarily, with operators fleeing the areas, according to reports.
Cambodia has stepped up efforts against fraud-related crimes since last month, partly due to growing pressure from China. Beijing has recently intensified its own campaign against telecom and online scams, initially targeting networks in northern Myanmar before shifting focus to Cambodia’s expanding scam hubs.
Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin said such criminal activities, including online fraud and illegal detention, posed serious challenges to bilateral cooperation. He also noted growing concern over cases involving missing Chinese nationals in Cambodia, warning that such incidents undermine the long-standing friendship between the two countries.
Senior Cambodian officials have pledged to sustain the crackdown. Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol said online fraud had damaged Cambodia’s international image and vowed to eradicate the problem.
According to Cambodia’s Ad-Hoc Committee to Combat Online Scams, more than 5,100 suspects from 23 countries have been arrested for online scam-related crimes over the past seven months.
