Twenty-one Thais working for fraud gangs in Cambodia were to be deported to Thailand via Sa Kaeo province yesterday, following raids in Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanouk province on Friday.
Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, deputy national police chief and director of the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT), said a combined team of Thai and Cambodian police officers stormed three locations in Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanouk on Friday morning.
At the first location, the officers raided the YN Hotel in the Cambodian capital and arrested two Thai nationals who worked for a fraud gang.
They allegedly duped Thais into investing in fake digital assets via the Digital Alliance website, causing damage worth over 200 million baht, said Pol Gen Damrongsak.
At the second spot, the team raided a four-storey building opposite the Sokha Vegas casino in Preah Sihanouk, where the top floor was used as an office and operation centre for a phone scam gang.
Six suspects, all Thais, were caught. They had worked for Chinese nationals to swindle money from Thais, causing more than 300 million baht in damages, said Pol Gen Damrongsak.
The team raided the third location at the Chinatown GM Office in Preah Sihanouk and arrested 13 Thais working for a gang operated by Chinese nationals. The provincial capital is the coastal town of Sihanoukville, popular among tourists.
Cambodian officials will hand over the 21 suspects to immigration officers in Sa Kaeo to face charges of illegal assembly, colluding in transnational crime and related offences.
Pol Gen Damrongsak said national police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk and the government have placed increased emphasis on cracking down on scam gangs.