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

BEIJING — 

China repatriated 240 arrested Chinese gambling and fraud suspects from Cambodia connected Thursday, with immoderate 500 much expected to beryllium escorted back, Chinese authorities media said, arsenic Beijing stepped up a years-long effort to combat Chinese organized transgression successful Southeast Asia.

The arrested radical constituted the 2nd batch China has chartered planes to repatriate from Cambodia aft a archetypal circular successful April erstwhile much than 680 were escorted back, China's nationalist tv broadcaster CCTV reported.

As portion of efforts to stem cross-border online gambling and fraud carried retired done telecom networks, China periodically has partnered with neighbors specified arsenic Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines to nab Chinese suspects and person them brought backmost to China.

The latest deportation follows a week aft China and Myanmar dismantled ample telecom fraud centers successful bluish Myanmar, with implicit 53,000 Chinese nationals arrested since a run to combat specified fraud began past year.

In September, China and Cambodia strengthened their practice against gambling and fraud, signing agreements to heighten instrumentality enforcement collaboration and combat Chinese organized transgression successful the Southeast Asian country.

In 2019, Cambodia banned online gambling, targeting peculiarly Chinese-run operations that had sprung up successful the confederate coastal metropolis of Sihanoukville.

"The nationalist information authorities volition proceed to deepen instrumentality enforcement practice with applicable countries and regions, transportation retired focused crackdowns, resolutely dismantle gambling and fraud dens involving Chinese nationals, and firmly curb the precocious incidence of specified crimes," CCTV said.

China has repatriated thousands of suspects nether its covert planetary "Operation Fox Hunt" cognition launched a decennary agone to combat corruption and economical crimes and has since recovered billions of dollars successful assets, CCTV said.