A chartered plane to repatriate 64 Koreans detained for involvement in crimes in Cambodia arrived in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, on Oct. 17 at night (local time).
The Korean Air chartered plane landed at Techo International Airport near the capital Phnom Penh at about 10:51 p.m. that day. The chartered plane, carrying about 190 police escort personnel, departed from Incheon Airport at 7:26 p.m. the previous day, Korea time.
The chartered plane is scheduled to return to Korea at 12:30 a.m. that day, or about 2:30 a.m. Korea time, carrying 64 Koreans from Cambodia.
Of all those to be repatriated, 59 were caught during a Cambodian crackdown on scam compounds, and the remaining five reported themselves and were rescued from the criminal compounds.
Most of them are suspects for whom arrest warrants have been issued in Korea, and Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) red notice fugitives are also included. They are accused of taking part in crimes such as voice phishing (telephone financial fraud) and romance scams at Cambodian criminal compounds known as "Wenchi."
When they set foot in Korea, this is expected to be the largest single-country operation to repatriate criminals. In September, 49 fugitives who had fled to the Philippines were forcibly repatriated by chartered plane.