VIENTIANE: On 8 August, Vientiane police raided a telecommunications fraud and online gambling operation at a building in Vientiane’s Thatluang Lake Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
Officers detained 261 suspects, spanning seven nationalities. Chinese nationals made up the largest group at 153, followed by 61 Vietnamese, 36 Thai, five Taiwanese, two Malaysian, two South Korean and two Myanmar nationals.
Police seized nearly 500 desktop computers and laptops, along with 2,355 mobile phones, as evidence. Authorities confirmed the building belongs to Lao Thatluang Investment Development Co., Ltd. and said they are continuing the investigation to identify and arrest the operation’s masterminds and accomplices for prosecution under the law.
The raid comes as Lao authorities press a broader crackdown on scam networks nationwide.
Two days later, on 10 August, Lao authorities deported 41 Thai suspects to Thai authorities via the 1st Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, following an earlier handover of 32 Thai nationals through the same crossing on 6 August.
The two handovers brought the total number of Thai nationals deported to at least 73.
Lao authorities detained those suspects during an earlier raid in July on the ST Vegas complex in Dongphosy village, Hatsayfong district, Vientiane. Conducted on 18 July, that operation netted 589 suspected scammers in total, most of them Thai nationals, followed by Lao, Vietnamese and Cambodian nationals. - Laotian Times
