On 1 August, Vientiane authorities arrested 63 people on suspicion of involvement in an alleged telecommunications fraud network during coordinated raids across six locations in Sikhottabong and Hatsayfong districts.
The suspects included 57 Chinese nationals, four Lao nationals, one Cambodian, and one Thai national.
The largest operation targeted a rented house in Salakham village, Hatsayfong district, where police arrested 24 Chinese nationals. Officers said they uncovered a scam call center containing thousands of mobile phones, dozens of computers, several unregistered vehicles, and other equipment at a property linked to a local businessman.
Officers also raided a rental house in Nonghai village,arresting another 24 suspects and seizing large quantities of computer equipment.
The remaining 15 suspects were arrested in separate raids across Mai, Mueangvatha, Oubmoung, and Wattay Noy villages in Sikhottabong district.
Officials said the syndicate primarily targeted Chinese citizens and confirmed Lao authorities will hand the suspects over to Chinese police following interrogation, while deporting the Cambodian suspect to their national authorities.
Authorities will also blacklist the group under the Law on Entry-Exit and Foreign Management, permanently barring them from re-entering Laos.
Border Enforcement Push
The raid extends a nationwide crackdown that has intensified since early this year.
In the north, Bokeo authorities reported on 4 August that they arrested 87 suspects of eight nationalities, mostly Vietnamese, alongside Chinese, Myanmar, Ethiopian, Pakistani, Indian, Malaysian, and Lao nationals, in Tonpheung district between 17 and 27 July, seizing hundreds of mobile phones and desktop computers.
Earlier on July 28, in southern Laos, officers in Attapeu raided a Vietnamese-run scam and crypto-mining operation, detaining six Vietnamese men aged 17 to 35 and recovering firearms, mining rigs, and passports tied to victims defrauded through police impersonation schemes.
On July 11, in Vientiane Capital, police arrested 122 foreign nationals from China, Malaysia, Brazil, Myanmar, Uruguay, and Pakistan in rented houses in Buengkhayong village, Sisattanak district.
Nationwide, authorities arrested more than 2,000 people linked to alleged online fraud operations in both June and July as part of a broader crackdown. In early July, Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone told the National Assembly that authorities had arrested more than 4,400 people linked to cybercrime, online fraud, and illegal gambling during the first six months of 2026.
