A successful May 6 operation saw 28 Thai citizens who had been illegally detained rescued from a rental property in Poipet town.
The raid, on a property on National Road 58 in Ou Russei Leu village, Ou Russei commune, Banteay Meanchey province, was conducted by specialised National Police units, working with their Banteay Meanchey provincial counterparts
It was led by deputy national police commissioner Yim Leang and was the result of a complaint from a member of the public.
According to a report, the operation also led to the arrest of one Thai national suspected of trafficking Thai citizens into Cambodia.
The 28 Thai victims — including 12 women — were safely freed. Authorities are currently questioning them before transferring them to the General Department of Immigration for deportation procedures. The location has been temporarily sealed off pending further legal action.
The Banteay Meanchey provincial administration released details of separate same-day operations which targeted targeting online scam and kidnapping crimes. Authorities searched three locations.
One was pronounced “clean”, while one contained evidence of recent scam activities. The third reportedly contained 134 foreign nationals, who are suspected of involvement in criminal activities.
Inspections of the O’Neang Casino reportedly found no foreign nationals and no equipment linked to online scam operations. Another site in Kob Thom village, Nimit commune, also contained no foreign residents, though authorities discovered suspicious equipment believed to have been used in cyber fraud activities. Officials shuttered the property until further notice.
At the third site, a row house containing 10 rooms in Tuol Pongro village, Ou Russei commune, 134 foreign nationals were discovered, including 133 Chinese and one Nepalese. Nine of the Chinese reportedly showed visible injuries, possibly as the result of torture.
Investigations are ongoing.