File photo.

Police arrest 1,460 suspects over call centre scams last year

Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone police dismantled nine call centre fraud groups last year, detaining 1,460 suspects of 16 nationalities.
Deputy Director of the Zone’s public security office, Colonel Vannasak Thongaloun, shared the details at a meeting held last week to summarise security work undertaken in 2024 and outline the plan for 2025, according to the Lao National Radio.
He said police raided 86 locations, shutting down 267 operational units. A total of 1,460 suspects were detained, including 328 women. The operation also resulted in the seizure of 4,052 mobile phones, 509 desktop computers, 56 notebooks, two iPads, 14 Wi-Fi routers, and 14 USB drives.
Mr Vannasak said significant progress had also been made in anti-human trafficking efforts. Police assisted 149 at-risk individuals and suspected victims of human trafficking, including 22 women, of eight nationalities. A total of 98 people, 10 of whom were female, representing nine nationalities, were repatriated. In addition, 262 workers, including 18 women, were assisted through coordination with relevant parties.
In a separate operation, 73 Filipino workers, 29 of whom were female, were transferred from detention camps to the Philippine Embassy.
A report by the General Police Department on fraudulent telecoms operations at the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone from 2022-2024 stated that 306 call centres had been set up, employing 15,970 people, including 6,120 Lao nationals and 9,868 foreigners.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update February 20, 2025)