Laos hands over 268 telecom scam suspects to China

China police officers escort telecommunications fraud suspects from a charted plane arriving from Laos at the Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport in Henan Province in this file picture from Sept 11, 2023. - Li Hao/GT

BEIJING: A total of 268 suspects involved in cross-border telecom frauds affecting Chinese citizens were returned from Laos to Chinese police custody, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Wednesday (Feb 28).

The suspects, including eight who served as the crimes' funding source and 54 criminal ring heads and core members, have been implicated in over 1,570 relevant cases in multiple localities in China, the ministry said in a statement.