Hundreds of foreigners and Cambodians were arrested for their parts in online scams in Preah Sihanouk province in March. Police
The Ministry of Interior’s cyber scam suppression working group made hundreds of arrests at two illegal gambling sites in Preah Sihanouk province on March 9 and 10.
The General Department of Immigration (GDI) announced on March 11 that the working group arrested 205 foreign nationals and 279 Cambodian citizens during the two raids.
According to the announcement, the first operation took place at the former Paradis Island Casino, with 172 foreigners taken into police custody. They included 109 Vietnamese (17 of them women), 54 Thais (24 of them women), and nine Chinese (three of them women).
The GDI added that 167 of the foreigners would be deported, with five held pending charges, for managing the operation.
During the second raid, officials discovered 279 Cambodians (227 of them women) and 28 foreigners (three of them women). The 28 foreign citizens, from China and Myanmar, were sent to the GDI for deportation.
Following the raids, Sok Phal, chairman of the ministry’s commission for the suppression of cybercrime, addressed a March 10 press conference.
He explained that the crackdowns in Preah Sihanouk province were part of the government’s policy of eliminating illegal gambling from the province, in order to allow it to be developed into a tourism and development hub.
Phal called on all illegal gambling operators to shutter their operations at once, so more tourists would be attracted to the province.
According to Phal, over the past three months, more than 3,000 illegal gambling sites have been raided, with more than 10,000 individuals being investigated.
Kuoch Chamroeun, governor of Preah Sihanouk province, said that after receiving orders from interior minister Sar Sokha, the provincial authorities were working to shut down all illegal gambling facilities.
He explained that while the province is home to legal gambling establishments which are monitored by the finance ministry’s Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC), some opportunists appeared to have opened illegal gambling premises in the province.
“We will continue to search for illegal gambling sites,” he added.
Prime Minister Hun Manet recently reiterated that Cambodia does not want investments in gambling, as they do not benefit the public or society at large.
