Scammers flee to Chiang Rai
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Scammers flee to Chiang Rai

Chinese nationals operating call centre scams in Laos have fled to Chiang Rai, a border security source said yesterday.

This came after Lao and Chinese authorities stepped up suppression measures to weed out scam networks and illegal businesses in Laos, said the source.

The most recent cases were reported on Tuesday in two different areas of Chiang Sean district where two Chinese nationals, identified as Yian Tian Shin, 34, and Huang Xiang, 34, illegally crossed the Mekong River to the district. Police charged them with illegal immigration, said the source.

On Aug 21, Boarder Patrol Police arrested nine fugitives, seven Chinese people and two Thais who were hired to drive the Chinese people in two cars from Phan district of Chiang Rai to Mae Sot district in Trat. The police searched both cars and sized 215 mobile phones, laptops, and SIM cards.

The source said Lao and Chinese authorities cracked down on hundreds of criminal enterprises, especially call centre gangs, in the Kings Roman area, part of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, in Bokeo Province of Laos.

The source said 1,398 suspects were arrested, 1,211 of whom were Chinese and 145 were Vietnamese.

The source also said that during the Aug 9-27 operation in Bokeo, many Chinese and foreigners working illegally in the Kings Roman area fled to the Thai side, causing almost all the hotel rooms in Chiang Saen to be full.

Many online scam gangs also moved their base to Myanmar and Cambodia, the source added.

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