Police seek arrest warrants for 73 online scam suspects extradited from Cambodia

Korean suspects extradited to South Korea for their alleged involvement in crimes committed by a criminal organization based in Cambodia get off a police transport vehicle as they arrive at the Dongnae Police Station in Busan, Friday. Yonhap

Police sought arrest warrants Saturday for all 73 South Korean suspects extradited from Cambodia over alleged involvement in online scam operations, according to officials.

The warrants were filed a day after the suspects, who had been detained in Cambodia, were brought home Friday on a chartered flight to face investigation. It marked the nation's largest extradition of criminal suspects from a single country.

The suspects are accused of swindling a combined 48.6 billion won ($33.1 million) from 869 South Korean victims.

They were immediately placed under custody after boarding the plane with court-issued warrants and transferred to local police agencies nationwide on arrival for further investigation.

Among the suspects, 70 of them are accused of participation in online fraud activities, such as romance scams, while the remaining three face charges of robbery by hostage taking, and gambling.

One of them is accused of fleeing to Cambodia and engaging in scams after allegedly committing a sexual crime against a minor, while another is suspected of keeping a victim hostage at a criminal compound and extorting money from their family.

They also included a couple accused of swindling 12 billion won from 104 people through romance scams using deep fake technology. The couple had evaded authorities by undergoing plastic surgery before their detention.

South Korea has been ramping up efforts to combat crimes targeting South Koreans in Cambodia, such as online scams, following the torture and death of a Korean college student lured to a scam center in the Southeast Asian country last August.

The latest mass extradition came as a group of 64 South Koreans was brought back home from Cambodia to face investigation last October after being detained for suspected involvement in online scams.