Cambodia is experiencing an unprecedented anti-cyber fraud storm. The Secretariat of the National Committee for Combating Cyber Fraud reported on August 21 that a nationwide operation launched from June 27 to August 18 has struck jointly in 18 provinces and cities, 72 dens, and has cumulatively arrested 3170 suspects involved from up to 19 countries.
Among those arrested, 66 individuals have been identified as main leaders and have been transferred to the court for legal proceedings; additionally, approximately 2450 foreign nationals have been forcibly repatriated. According to the "Cambodia-China Times", among them, 814 Chinese suspects have been successively handed over to China for escort back to the country, a scale that has attracted high regional attention.
The officials emphasize that this round of crackdown is not a one-time action, but a continuous high-pressure "long-term battle". The report points out that as the investigation deepens, more dens will be destroyed, and more cyber fraudsters lurking in the shadows will be caught.
This nationwide action is personally driven by Prime Minister Hun Manet. On July 14, he signed an executive order to launch the "Sweeping Cyber Fraud" special operation, mobilizing national law enforcement and armed forces to strike comprehensively, with special forces also directly participating. Hun Manet also issued a stern warning: any provincial governor who fails to implement the sweep order will be immediately dismissed to ensure the execution is uncompromised and undiluted.
On July 15, the National Committee for Combating Cyber Fraud convened another meeting to redeploy the operation, clearly stating that the roots of the fraud groups in Cambodia must be completely destroyed. This means that the Cambodian government is adopting a "zero tolerance" stance towards the cyber fraud industry chain, vowing to eradicate this long-entrenched scourge.
Currently, as large-scale arrests and repatriations continue to advance, a corner of Cambodia's "black economy" is being forcibly torn open. The general expectation is that more dens will be exposed in the coming weeks, and the pace of clearing suspects will accelerate. Under the pressure of strong policies, the transnational cyber fraud networks that were once active within Cambodia are facing a fate of rapidly shrinking living space.
