Over 250 Chinese citizens arrested for trans-national telecom frauds in Indonesia and Cambodia have been repatriated to face charges as part of an overseas campaign launched to combat one of the fastest growing crimes.
Police said today that 254 Chinese citizens involved in more than 4,000 major transnational telecom crimes were extradited to China from the two countries.
Their victims came from over 20 Chinese provinces and regions including Hong Kong, Ministry of Public Security said.
Aboard four flights from Indonesia and Cambodia, the suspects landed in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.
The suspects were repatriated in the first overseas operation since a campaign targeting new types of telecom crime was launched in China last month to combat what is now one of the fastest growing crimes and some of the most difficult to solve, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
On October 19, police from the Chinese mainland, in collaboration with their counterparts from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia, busted eight telecom scam dens and captured 224 suspects in Indonesia, including 86 from the Chinese mainland and 138 from Taiwan.
On October 31, police from the Chinese mainland and Cambodia destroyed three scam dens, captured 168 suspects, and seized a number of computers, mobile phones and bank cards which had been used to commit the alleged offences.
The ministry said the ability of the criminals to exploit electronic bank transfers from a safe distance, hide identities and constantly vary the nature of their scams allowed them to mislead victims and avoid detection.
The Ministry of Public Security said it is committed to improving law enforcement cooperation with Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and countries around the world in terms of intelligence exchange, investigation and capture of suspects.
"The capability to fight trans-regional and trans-national crimes must be enhanced to leave the criminals no place to hide or commit their crimes," the ministry said in a statement.
