COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police have arrested more than 230 Chinese men accused of targeting international banks in online scams, the foreign minister said on Tuesday, with help from security officials sent by Beijing.

Vijitha Herath said police raids over the past week had also seized 250 computers and 500 mobile phones used in the alleged scams, with investigations into how much had been stolen still underway. “They have mainly targeted foreign banks and financial institutions,” Herath said of the gangs targeted in the raids.

China’s embassy in Colombo said they had sent a “working group” of security officials to carry out “special operations” with Sri Lankan police. “A large number of criminal suspects were arrested,” the embassy said in a statement, adding that “repatriation and other work” were ongoing.

The biggest raid was on Saturday, when police arrested 126 Chinese men, as well as two from Vietnam and one each from Thailand and the Philippines.

Sri Lanka has a strong telecommunication infrastructure and was the first in South Asia to unroll a 5G network, in April 2019, three years before the country’s financial meltdown.

The embassy statement said China’s crackdown on cybercriminals at home may have pushed some to seek criminal opportunities abroad. “China stands ready to further strengthen law enforcement cooperation with Sri Lanka”, the statement said.

In June, police arrested another 200 suspects, mainly Indians, who were also accused of operating online financial scams.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2024