16/10/2025

THURSDAY | OCT 16, 2025

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Civilians, troops killed in Pakistan border clashes SPIN BOLDAK: Fifteen civilians were killed and dozens wounded in fresh clashes on Tuesday night at the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Clashes broke out in the southern Afghan district of Spin Boldak, according to Ali Mohammad Haqmal, spokesman for the local information department, who said 15 civilians had been killed. The toll was confirmed by Abdul Jan Barak, an official at the Spin Boldak district hospital, who said more than 80 women and children had been wounded. Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistani forces of carrying out attacks in Spin Boldak district. Mujahid said in a statement that 12 civilians were killed and 100 others injured. The statement did not mention any casualties among security forces. But it did say calm had returned to the area after Pakistani soldiers were killed and posts and weapons seized. All businesses in the area are closed and many residents have fled, an AFP correspondent reported. Pakistan did not immediately comment, but security sources said they had targeted Afghan positions from Kurram district, further north than Spin Boldak. – AFP The government plans to make every diplomatic effort to secure Cambodia’s cooperation. – AFP ‘1,000 South Koreans working in scam centres’ SEOUL: About 1,000 South Koreans are believed to be working in online scam operations in Cambodia, Seoul said yesterday, with the country shaken by the torture and killing of a college student. South Korea will send a special team to Cambodia to discuss cases of fake jobs and scam centres involved in kidnapping dozens of its nationals. “It is believed that around 200,000 people of various nationalities are working in Cambodia’s scam industry, which targets victims worldwide, including in South Korea,” said National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac. “A considerable number of South Koreans are also thought to be employed there. While the exact figure is difficult to verify, domestic authorities generally estimate the number at around 1,000.” Seoul has said 63 South Koreans were believed to have been detained by authorities in Cambodia, who were among 80 reported missing. The government was “committed to bringing all South Korean nationals home”, Wi said. “We are arranging a flight to bring them home ... We aim to complete this by the end of the week,” he said. Of the 63 detained, there were both “voluntary and involuntary participants” in the scam operations, Wi said. “Most of them should be regarded as having committed criminal acts,” he said. Some 330 South Koreans had been reported missing or detained against their will in Cambodia between January and August, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, before that number was whittled down to 80.

US indicts Cambodian tycoon

WASHINGTON: US authorities on Tuesday unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi, a UK-Cambodian businessman accused of running forced labour camps in Cambodia where trafficked workers carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that netted billions of dollars. The 37-year-old, known as Vincent, founded Prince Holding Group, a conglomerate that authorities say served as a front for “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations”, according to the US Department of Justice. The Justice Department also filed the largest forfeiture action in its history, seizing approximately 127,271 Bitcoin worth around US$15 billion (RM63.4 billion) at current prices. “Today’s action represents one of the most significant strikes ever against the global scourge of human trafficking and cyber enabled financial fraud,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. Chen allegedly directed operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia o Accused of US$15b crypto scam empire

where hundreds of trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire. Under threat of violence, they were forced to execute so-called “pig butchering” scams – cryptocurrency investment schemes that build trust with victims over time before stealing their funds. The schemes targeted victims worldwide, causing billions in losses. Scam centres across Cambodia, Myanmar and the region use fake job ads to attract foreign nationals, many of them Chinese, to purpose built compounds, where they are forced to carry out online fraud under threat of torture. Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, prosecutors said. Chen and top executives allegedly used political influence and bribed officials in multiple countries to protect the operation. Proceeds were laundered in part through the Prince Group’s own gambling and cryptocurrency mining operations. The stolen funds financed luxury

Motorists ride past a branch of the Prince Bank in Phnom Penh. – AFPPIC

purchases including watches, yachts, private jets, vacation homes and a Picasso painting bought at a New York auction house, authorities said. Chen faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges. In coordinated action, British authorities on Tuesday froze 19 London properties worth over £100 million (RM564 million) linked to Chen’s network, including a £12 million mansion in North London. The sanctions also target Chen’s associate Qiu Wei Ren, a Chinese national with Cambodian, Cypriot

and Hong Kong citizenship. An AFP investigation on Tuesday found that scam centres in neighbouring Myanmar were expanding rapidly just months after a crackdown there. China, Thailand and Myanmar forced pro-government Myanmar militias who protect the centres to promise to shutter the compounds in February, freeing around 7,000 people – most of them Chinese citizens. But the brutal call centre-style system is flourishing again in Myanmar, now using Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite system for internet access. – AFP

Drugs, guns seized in Sydney ‘kill team’ raid SYDNEY: Australian police said yesterday they had seized drugs worth US$170 million (RM718 million) and guns in a raid on a group likely linked to an attempted organised crime hit near a Sydney daycare facility last week. New South Wales police last week said they had foiled an attempted murder by a so-called “kill team” and arrested three men involved. Police said yesterday they had taken possession of some 400kg of drugs in a major bust targeting a transnational criminal syndicate they said was likely linked to that foiled hit. Detectives found vacuum-sealed bricks of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin stuffed inside duffel bags and stashed at Sydney safe houses. They estimated the haul had a street value of US$170 million. Police said the raids were part of a broader operation to dismantle a “transnational network believed to be run out of Southeast Asia”. Organised Crime Squad Commander Peter Faux told local media the syndicate was “highly likely” linked to last week’s attempted killing. “We believe highly likely there are some links between certain entities around that incident that occurred last week,” he said. Faux also said there were “potentially some links” to the abduction and killing in April of a Sydney mother over her husband’s alleged connections to a Vietnamese-linked organised crime network. Supplied police images yesterday showed a squad of armed officers searching one of the hideouts. Sealed drug packages littered the floor, emblazoned with a picture of a cartoon bear made famous in the 2012 Mark Wahlberg comedy “Ted”. Another bag featured red Chinese characters reading “smooth sailing”. They also seized three pistols and more than 300 rounds of ammo. Three men aged between 19 and 26 were arrested and charged with a raft of drug supply offences. – AFP

Drug packages at the scene of the raid in Sydney. – AFPPIC/ NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE HANDOUT