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Cambodia Targets Cross-Border Crime with Mass Arrests, Signs Pact with Laos to Combat Scams, Drug Trafficking

This Week

Cambodian authorities have arrested more than 1,362 individuals, including hundreds of foreign nationals, in a sweeping 20-day crackdown on online scam operations across seven provinces and the capital. 

The campaign, launched under the directive of Prime Minister Hun Manet, marks the country’s largest coordinated action to date against cybercrime and forced labor networks.

The operation, spanning from 27 June to 16 July, followed the first meeting of the newly formed Commission for Combating Cybercrime and a government directive signed on 14 July. The crackdown targeted 20 known locations across Phnom Penh, Kandal, Sihanoukville, Kampong Speu, Banteay Meanchey, Kratie, and Pursat provinces.

According to a July 17 report from the Commission’s Secretariat, the Unified Command under the 25 Capital-Provincial Administrations spearheaded the operations, seizing hundreds of computers, phones, weapons, drugs, and other materials linked to fraudulent activities. 

Authorities arrested suspects of various nationalities, including 347 Vietnamese, 271 Indonesians, 226 Chinese, and dozens from South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, with suspicion that a few Lao nationals were also caught in the crackdown.

In response, Cambodia and Laos signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 15 July to deepen cooperation on transnational crimes and drug trafficking, committing to joint training and legal coordination.

The Lao Embassy in Phnom Penh has not immediately replied for comments.

While many suspects have been transferred to court for prosecution and foreign nationals are being processed for deportation, not all high-profile scam compounds were targeted, according to CamboJA News

Despite the wide scope of the crackdown, critics point out that some of Cambodia’s most notorious scam hubs, including Mango Park 2 in Takeo province and compounds in Bavet, Svay Rieng, continue to operate. 

Investigations by Amnesty International and CamboJA News have identified these sites as centers of cybercrime and human trafficking, citing gaps in enforcement, particularly when it comes to networks with ties to powerful elites.

The crackdown comes amid rising international scrutiny.

Regional concerns have also intensified following the arrest of 59 Vietnamese scammers in Laos’s Golden Triangle and the seizure of 70 million methamphetamine pills in Bokeo province.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, scam operations in Southeast Asia defraud victims globally of up to USD 40 billion annually. 

Cambodia alone is estimated to host at least 53 scam compounds, many reportedly involved in forced labor, torture, and unlawful detention.

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