Shocking arrests targeting notorious figures in the transnational fraud network in Cambodia are creating a large-scale "escape" of thousands of workers, many of whom are trafficked and forced.
This is considered one of the biggest fluctuations ever in the online scam industry of "pig-butchering" in this Southeast Asian country.
On January 6, 2026, Cambodian authorities arrested Chen Zhi, Chairman of Prince Group, who has been sanctioned and prosecuted by the US since October 2025 on charges of operating one of Asia's largest "pig-butchering" fraud networks.
Just 1 day later, Chen Zhi, 38 years old, was deported to China at Beijing's request.
More than a week later, Cambodia continued to arrest Ly Kuong, 49, a casino and real estate tycoon, on charges of fraud, money laundering and exploitation of illegally recruited workers.
According to estimates cited by US prosecutors, the fraud industry in Cambodia generates revenue of up to 19 billion USD per year, equivalent to more than 1/3 of the country's GDP.
In 2024 alone, phishing networks in Southeast Asia have appropriated about 10 billion USD from Americans, according to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Before the latest crackdown, Cambodia was said to have more than 250 fraud complexes, mainly using foreign workers who were lured by promises of easy jobs with high salaries, then detained and forced to carry out emotional scams, online investment with very low or non-existent remuneration.
The United Nations estimates that in 2023, about 100,000 people were trafficked into fraud centers in Cambodia.
After the arrests, chaotic scenes took place in many complex areas. Video verified by Amnesty International shows groups of people pulling suitcases and bags leaving houses that were strictly guarded.
The Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh said that more than 2,750 citizens came to seek repatriation support in just the second half of January, and some even had to sleep on the sidewalk in front of the embassy gate.
One of them is Mohamad Nasrul, 28 years old, Indonesian, who escaped from a fraud den in Bavet on the evening of January 19. Nasrul said he was tricked into going to Cambodia with an attractive job promise, but then his passport was confiscated, beaten and forced to bring back 5,000 USD per month from victims in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and other countries.
Although the Cambodian government affirms that the arrests are part of a continuous crackdown campaign, researchers believe that there is still a lack of in-depth investigations targeting businessmen and senior officials suspected of protecting the fraudulent industry.
You don't see large-scale arrests targeting truly powerful figures," said Jacob Sims, an expert at Harvard University's Asia Center.
Cambodia affirms that it pursues an uncompromising policy against online fraud and human trafficking. But with hundreds of complexes still existing and tens of thousands of workers whose fate is unknown, the question is whether the shock named Chen Zhi is enough to collapse the entire fraud empire or just a temporary shake.
