Police in Sri Lanka arrested 152 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, on Friday for allegedly running a cyberscam operation out of a hotel in the island’s northwest, officials said.
The raid took place in the coastal town of Chilaw, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Colombo, following a tip-off, police spokesman Frederick Wootler told AFP.
“Those involved in scamming will be dealt with under our criminal law, while others could be deported,” Wootler said.
Local police sources said two Chinese men who tried to escape during the raid were injured and admitted to hospital.
The other suspects appeared in a local court and were remanded in custody until April 9, pending further investigations.
The police sources said 143 laptops, 120 desktop computers and 370 mobile phones were found at the centre, which was run by Chinese men who had rented an entire hotel in the area.
Among those arrested were 133 Chinese, including seven women, and 13 Vietnamese.
Immigration authorities arrested 135 Chinese men and women last month for allegedly running a similar cyberscam. They have since been deported.
The Chinese embassy in Colombo said after those arrests it was working closely with local authorities to prevent its nationals from carrying out scamming operations in Sri Lanka.
“Due to Sri Lanka’s well-developed telecommunications infrastructure, favourable geographical location, and relatively lenient visa policies… some telecom fraud gangs have moved to Sri Lanka,” the embassy said.
“That’s why such cases have been increasing in Sri Lanka recently,” it said, noting that the scammers had been targeting Chinese nationals at home.
Authorities detained 230 Chinese nationals operating cybercrime centres in various parts of the island in 2024.
Sri Lanka’s police also arrested 200 Indian nationals the same year who were also accused of operating online financial scams.
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