As of March 14, more than 5,770 people suspected of involvement in online scams had been detained so far this year. Almost 130 are now facing charges related to the 98 locations which were raided in the same period.
More than 3,700 others reportedly fled the suspected locations before they were inspected by authorities, according to Ministry of Interior spokesperson Touch Sokhak.
Sokhak delivered a media briefing today, March 17. He detailed the location of the raids: 66 were in Phnom Penh, 8 in Kampot, 7 in Svay Rieng, 4 in Battambang, 2 each in Tboung Khmum, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Preah Sihanouk, and one each in Mondulkiri, Prey Veng, Kandal, Koh Kong and Kampong Speu provinces.
The detainees were from 23 different nations. The majority were Chinese (3,438), followed by Vietnam (1,166) and Cambodian (400). More than 100 Burmese were also detained, with the remainder from other Asian countries, in addition to a few African and European countries.
Of them, 4,407 have been transferred to the General Department of Immigration for deportation proceedings, 127 have been sent to court and 342 have been educated and released. Around 800 remain in police custody and are being processed.
“In addition, the police determined that more than 3700 foreigners from 32 nationalities had fled from suspected scam centres across the Kingdom,” added Sokhak.
He also noted that a total of 249 locations, including casinos, have been closed down and shuttered.
“We sent the managers of these operations to court, while those who were hired with the promise of high salaries are being deported, with the cooperation of their respective embassies,” he said.
Sokhak added that some large operations appear to have divided into smaller groups to continue their activities, but the police are hunting them and aim to clean them out of Cambodia.
“The general public and the media should inform the police if they notice groups of five to ten people renting houses,” he said.
He explained that the authorities will continue to strengthen the checks and combat online scams activities, while rescuing trafficked victims from rental properties, including casinos.
“We will provide a timely intervention to anyone who seeks it. We will continue to investigate suspected locations and any locations where a foreigner has reportedly died,” he said.
“For example, if someone has fallen from a building, we will investigate to see whether it was a case of suicide or a murder,” he added.
Sokhak also noted that the ministry will tighten up its planning processes, to avoid information about raids leaking which could enable suspects to flee ahead of the authorities.