To put it bluntly, over the past two days Vientiane has raided 3 locations suspected of involvement in cybercrime. A special task force from the Lao public security authorities carried out surprise inspections in Xaythany District and Sikhottabong District, and a total of 50 suspects were taken into custody, including people from China, Myanmar, Laos, and Hong Kong, China. For now, the people have been detained and are still being questioned. As for who is behind it, where the money went, and whether others are involved, the local authorities are still investigating.
The first location was in Sikhottabong District, inside a KTV hotel. A total of 11 people were brought under control at the scene, including 10 Chinese nationals and 1 Lao national. Some items were also found: 16 mobile phones, 1 laptop, and several items suspected to be related to drug use. Looking at this site alone, the place was not big, but something was already clearly off.
The second location was in Non Saeng Chan Village, Xaythany District. This site had the largest number of people, with 25 taken into custody at once. The list included 15 Chinese nationals, 6 Myanmar nationals, and 4 people from Hong Kong, China. Officers seized 14 computers, 70 mobile phones, 21 iPads, 2 cars, and 129 pills suspected to be drugs. Just from the amount of equipment, it was clearly not something a handful of people were casually doing behind closed doors.
The third location was also in Xaythany District, in Na Thom Village. Here, 14 Chinese nationals were taken into custody, and 20 computers, 40 mobile phones, and 4 e-cigarettes were seized. Looking at all three locations together, there were piles of phones and computers at each one, and the pattern looked very similar.
People who work night shifts around here usually know that some parts of Vientiane are quiet during the day, but once night falls and people and vehicles start moving, with rental houses, village road junctions, and motorcycle exhaust all mixing together, outsiders coming and going do not stand out much. After this round of concentrated inspections, the streets will probably continue to be watched even more closely.
