12 Japanese taken into protective custody in Cambodia

Twelve Japanese nationals in Cambodia have been taken into protective custody by Cambodian police after they were forced to work in the country’s southeastern province, local police sources told Kyodo News on Wednesday.

The sources said the 12 were given false information about highly-paid but easy jobs in Cambodia and went to Bavet in the Svay Rieng province bordering Vietnam.

They were allegedly forced to work for a ring carrying out online scams, according to authorities in Cambodia.

The ringleaders of the alleged crimes have likely moved on from where the 12 Japanese worked, according to the sources.

There has been a series of cases involving Japanese scam groups using locations in Southeast Asian countries as hideouts. In November last year, Cambodian authorities deported 25 Japanese men back to their home country for allegedly running a phone scam operation in Phnom Penh.