Over 5,500 Foreigners Arrested in April: What Cambodia's Scam Crackdown Means for Expats

The Ministry of Interior released the consolidated figures on May 9, 2026. The headline numbers are unprecedented in scale for a single month:

• 5,535 foreigners arrested across coordinated raids in April 2026.
• 30 nationalities represented — Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian nationals make up the majority.
• 4 main provinces: Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Siem Reap, and Banteay Meanchey (Poipet).
• Multiple compound shutdowns: scam operations were dismantled inside hotels, casinos, and residential buildings.
• Cross-border cooperation: several arrests followed information sharing with Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai authorities.

The April crackdown built on smaller raids from January–March 2026, but accelerated sharply in mid-April. Here is the chronology reported by the Ministry and Cambodian press:

1. Early April: Surveillance and infiltration of suspected compounds in Sihanoukville's Otres and Phnom Penh's Toul Kork districts.
2. April 10–15: First wave of raids in Sihanoukville — about 1,200 arrests in 5 days.
3. April 16–22: Operations expand to Phnom Penh; Mekong River casino complexes targeted.
4. April 22–28: Poipet raid at the Thai border closes a major scam compound, hundreds rescued from forced-labor conditions.
5. April 28–30: Siem Reap raids targeting Chinese-run compounds near the airport zone.
6. May 9, 2026: Ministry of Interior publishes the consolidated 5,535 figure.

The geographic distribution shows that Sihanoukville remains the epicenter of online-scam infrastructure, but Phnom Penh and the Thai border have caught up rapidly:

Numbers are approximate — the Ministry consolidates final totals after deportation and prosecution decisions, which can shift figures by ±5%.

If you are an expat in Siem Reap or Phnom Penh, the operation has practical day-to-day consequences:

• More frequent ID checks at provincial border crossings and on inter-city highways.
• Higher scrutiny in digital/crypto/marketing sectors — random visits to co-working spaces and serviced offices have been reported.
• Tougher visa renewals: some applicants from high-risk nationalities are seeing additional documentation requests at immigration.
• Embassy travel advisories: Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai embassies have updated their warnings on certain border zones — check yours before travel.
• Banking and accommodation checks: some banks and hotels are revisiting KYC procedures for foreign nationals registering new accounts.

The operation targets criminal activity, not legitimate expat life. If your visa, work permit, and address registration are in order, the day-to-day impact stays limited.

The fastest way to avoid disruption is to keep your paperwork bulletproof and stay away from flagged neighborhoods. Follow these steps:

1. Verify your visa and work permit are valid with at least 3 months remaining. Renew earlier than usual during this period.
2. Keep digital and paper copies of your passport, visa, work permit, and rental contract on your phone and in cloud storage.
3. Register your address with immigration if you have moved recently — fines have increased for unregistered foreign tenants.
4. Avoid known scam-compound areas — Otres in Sihanoukville, certain blocks of Toul Kork in Phnom Penh, and the Poipet border-casino strip.
5. Decline unverified job offers on Telegram or WhatsApp promising high pay in "customer service" or "crypto trading" — most are recruitment fronts for scam compounds.
6. Save your embassy's emergency number in your phone and know how to reach the consular section after hours.
7. Follow only verified channels (your embassy, the Cambodia Daily, Phnom Penh Post) for updates — Telegram groups often exaggerate or misinform.