A total of 250 Chinese nationals suspected of criminal activities have been smoothly transferred back to the Chinese side through a border port in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Photo: Screenshot of a video by the Ministry of Public Security

 

Chinese and Laotian law enforcement forces have achieved another positive result by rigorously combating crimes such as cross-border extortion through "nude chats" and telecom fraud. A total of 250 Chinese nationals suspected of criminal activities have been smoothly transferred back to the Chinese side through a border port in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. 

The Chinese public security authorities have continued their international police enforcement cooperation with the Laotian police. They recently successfully dismantled three criminal hubs located in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos, arresting 250 Chinese national suspects. 

Currently, all relevant individuals and items involved in the case have been smoothly transferred to Chinese side through the Yunnan Xishuangbanna border port. This marks another significant achievement in the deepening law enforcement cooperation between the two countries' police forces, dealing a harsh blow to criminal activities. 

In November 2022, during the investigation of a nude chat extortion case, the public security authorities of Zhoukou city in Central China's Henan Province discovered a criminal group led by an individual named Liu and others. 

This group had organized personnel and established bases in Myanmar and Laos to carry out cross-border nude chat extortion and telecommunications network fraud against Chinese nationals, involving a significant amount of money.

The Ministry of Public Security immediately organized the involved local public security authorities to trace deeper and conduct thorough assessments, gradually clarifying the organizational structure and locations of the criminal group's bases. 

Based on the established crime facts and evidence, the public security authorities recently utilized international police enforcement cooperation to notify the Laotian police of relevant clues. 

The Laotian police quickly organized law enforcement forces to carry out a coordinated raid on the criminal hubs within the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, arresting 160 targeted suspects and 90 fugitives wanted online, and seizing over 990 mobile phones and more than 270 computers used in the crimes. 

Currently, the Ministry of Public Security has directed public security authorities in Henan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces to orderly repatriate the suspects and fully engage in the investigation of the cases.

China has been stepping up efforts to crack down on illegal cross-border fraud with Southeast Asian countries including Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Most recently, 135 suspects involved in illegal cross-border gambling and fraud were escorted back to China from Cambodia by two chartered planes on Sunday.

 When meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the two countries should jointly combat illegal activities such as online gambling, telecommunications fraud, and human trafficking, and thoroughly eradicate related criminal gangs. 

Since 2023, the public security authorities have continued to intensify efforts against cross-border telecom and internet fraud. While achieving significant historical results in combating crimes involving telecom and internet fraud in northern Myanmar, the Ministry of Public Security has also dispatched working groups to the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and the United Arab Emirates for international police law enforcement cooperation. 

These efforts involve organizing multiple rounds of crackdown operations, continuously expanding the impact of these actions, and successfully capturing a large number of suspects involved in telecom and internet fraud.

In February, the Chinese police, in active international law enforcement cooperation with the Laotian police, successfully dismantled seven telecom and internet fraud hubs located within Laos, capturing 268 criminal suspects. 

This includes eight major financial sponsors behind the scenes and 54 organizational leaders and key members. The operation pertained to over 1,570 related cases across various regions in China. All 268 suspects have now been handed over to the Chinese side. 


Global Times