The 470 suspects were arrested for telecom fraud and taken to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, in the southwest Yunnan Province of China. (Photo : YouTube)
A statement from the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) revealed that a cross-border telecom fraud gang was busted by the Chinese police with the help of Lao police. The crackdown arrested 470 suspects.
Chinese and Lao police destroyed three hideouts and seized over 500 mobile phones, four vehicles and 400 computers in Laos on Dec. 30, 2015, according to China Daily. The 470 suspects were immediately taken to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, in the southwest Yunnan Province of China, escorted by Chinese police from Laos.
The case is the biggest telecom fraud incident to be busted in the recent crackdown launched by the MPS.
In other news, last November saw Yunnan police finding a group of Chinese suspected of engaging in criminal activities associated with telecom fraud in Laos. The MPS released a special investigation group made up of police officers from Hunan, Zhejiang, Yunnan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces.
The publication added that the police found the telecom scammers at the border region, buying and renting local hotel rooms to carry out their operations. The gang created false lottery betting sites to defraud money from people across China.
Primary investigations revealed that there are over 1,000 victims from many Chinese provinces and cities, with more than $32 million (200 million yuan) involved.
In the afternoon on Friday, Jan. 8, four chartered flights carrying 300 key suspects landed at Quanzhou Airport of Fujian Province from Xishuangbanna. The MPS requested Fujian police to deal with the case since most suspects were from Fujian. Another 170 suspects remained in Xishuangbanna and will be tried and dealt with by the local police.
Since the launch of a special crackdown campaign targeting telecom fraud crimes on Oct. 30, 2015, Chinese police have cracked 16,708 cases, arrested 5,825 suspects, and destroyed 927 gangs.
