Japanese Among 17 Detained in Laos Over Special Fraud Operation

Jun 23, 2026 | News On Japan

LAOS - Nine Japanese nationals were among 17 people detained in Laos on suspicion of involvement in a special fraud operation, while Japanese authorities have sought cooperation from Cambodian police over dozens of Japanese citizens believed to have gone missing after traveling to Cambodia.

Footage from inside a building in northern Laos, believed to have been used as a base for special fraud, showed people sitting along a corridor. The footage was taken when local police searched the site on June 17, seizing mobile phones and other items.

Among the items found was what appeared to be a police notebook bearing the words "Metropolitan Police Department."

Local police detained 17 people, including nine Japanese men and women, on suspicion of illegally entering Laos and engaging in unlawful activities.

In recent years, Japanese nationals have repeatedly been detained in Southeast Asia in connection with special fraud cases. Cambodia, which has become one of the main centers for such operations, is facing a growing problem involving scam bases where callers recruited from various countries are kept under confinement-like conditions and forced to take part in fraud, raising serious human trafficking concerns.

A senior official from Japan’s National Police Agency arrived at a Cambodian government building on June 23 for talks with senior Cambodian police officials, including a deputy chief of the national police.

Takeshi Ohama, director-general of the Organized Crime Department at the National Police Agency, said, "As far as we know, there are dozens of missing people, and they may be in Cambodia."

The National Police Agency said it had asked local police for cooperation after Japanese nationals who had traveled to Cambodia were reported missing.

Source: TBS

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