Image used for representational purpose only | Photo Credit: Reuters
Security forces in Laos have arrested nearly 800 people working for a cyber scam network in a suspected “special economic zone” on the border with Myanmar and Thailand, according to local media.
The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Laos’s Bokeo Province is home to a number of Chinese-owned casinos and hotels, and has emerged as a suspected hub of illicit activity in recent years.
According to Lao media, the action is part of a larger effort to end international crime within the Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
A total of 771 people were detained on August 12 when authorities busted an online fraud gang. Laotian Times Reported this week.
According to the outlet, those arrested included 489 men and 282 women of 15 different nationalities. The outlet, like all media in one-party communist Laos, operates under strict government control.
She said the operation was one of the “most significant” in the region’s history and involved substantial cooperation with international security forces, including China.
Those arrested were primarily from Laos, Myanmar, and China, but also included people from Burundi, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, Tunisia, the Philippines, Uganda, and Vietnam.
Following the arrests, the Laotian nationals were warned and returned to their local communities with the help of their relatives, the report said.
The detainees from China were handed over to Chinese authorities on August 15. The remaining foreigners were handed over to their respective embassies.
The crackdown comes after Vietnamese and Laos police successfully dismantled a large-scale cyber fraud and human trafficking operation in the SEZ this month.
According to the official Vietnam News Agency, they arrested 155 Vietnamese citizens involved in “sophisticated, cross-border fraud activities”.
The sprawling SEZ has seen a sharp rise in illicit activity since it was established in 2007, including drug trafficking, gambling and related criminal activity, Crisis Group wrote in a report last year.