China-Cambodia effort nets 240 Chinese suspects in anti-fraud campaign

28/11/2024 14:11

        China repatriated 240 arrested Chinese gambling and fraud suspects from Cambodia on Thursday, with over 500 more expected to be escorted back, Chinese state media said, as Beijing stepped up a years-long effort to combat Chinese organised crime in Southeast Asia.
        
        The arrested group constituted the second batch China has chartered planes to repatriate from Cambodia after a first round in April when more than 680 were escorted back, China's national television broadcaster CCTV reported.
        
        As part of efforts to stem cross-border online gambling and fraud carried out through telecom networks, China has partnered with neighbours such as Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines to nab Chinese suspects and have them brought back to China.
        
        The latest deportation follows a week after China and Myanmar dismantled large telecom fraud centres in northern Myanmar, with over 53,000 Chinese nationals arrested since a campaign to combat such fraud began last year.