Twenty-one Thais working for fraud gangs in Cambodia will be deported to Thailand via Sa Kaeo province on Saturday, following raids in Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanouk on Friday.
Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, deputy national police chief and director of the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT), said on Saturday that 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 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 Digital Alliance website, which caused damage worth over 200 million baht, said Pol Gen Damrongsak.
According to the PCT director, rooms on the fourth floor to the eighth floor of the hotel were used accommodation for gang members while the ninth floor of the hotel was used as an operation office for the gang, headed by Chinese nationals.
At the second spot, the team raided a four-storey building opposite Sokha Vegas casino in Preah Sihanouk province with the top floor being used as both 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 damage, said Pol Gen Damrongsak.
The team raided the third location at Chinatown GM Office in Preah Sihanouk province and arrested 13 Thais working for a fraud gang operated by Chinese nationals. The gang allegedly lured victims, mostly Thais, into fake investments, which caused at least 500 million baht in damage.
Cambodian officials will hand over the 21 suspects caught in the three locations to immigration officers in Sa Kaeo province on Saturday 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 given more emphasis on cracking down on scam gangs as their operations caused damage to Thais.
His team had given 71 arrest warrants to Cambodian police and 21 suspects were caught. Cambodian authorities would help track down the remaining suspects.
