Border guard and police forces in Tay Ninh Province, southern Vietnam recently uncovered a human trafficking ring that smuggled Vietnamese citizens to Cambodia.

The operation led to the arrest of two traffickers and the rescue of a young girl.

The investigation began last month after several Vietnamese citizens were repatriated from Cambodia on July 9, identified as illegal workers.

Among them, two coming from southern Dong Nai and An Giang Provinces revealed that they had been trafficked to Cambodia.

Based on their testimonies, authorities detained Pham Thi Kim Anh, 21, from Dong Nai, who was involved in the ring.

Anh admitted that she and many others who were working at casinos in Cambodia set up social media accounts through which they enticed Vietnamese citizens to Svay Rieng Province to get ‘high-paying easy jobs’ with a monthly salary ranging from US$1,000 to $2,000.

In fact, when the seduced people illegally entered Cambodia, Anh and other ring members sold them to gambling companies or casinos for $100-500 per person.

During their working period for these establishments, the victims suffered from coercive labor, torture, corporal punishment, and others. 

Anyone wanting to get home had to ask their families to bring money to Cambodia to pay for the ring as ransom.

After Anh’s arrest, border guards and police in Tay Ninh Province requested assistance from Cambodian authorities to identify any remaining Vietnamese citizens who might be victims of human trafficking in Cambodia.

This collaboration resulted in the discovery of a 16-year-old girl from Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam, identified as H.T.M.L., who was being forced to work in Svay Rieng Province.

On July 24, the Tay Ninh Border Guard, in coordination with the Svay Rieng Provincial Police, successfully rescued and repatriated her to Vietnam.

L. informed investigators that several other young Vietnamese girls under 17 were still being forced to work in Svay Rieng.

Most of these girls were sexually abused by their managers, but no one dared to resist for fear of torture and humiliation.

“One day, two male managers took me to a room and told me that if I wanted to return to my country, I had to take off my clothes for filming and have sex with them,” L. narrated.

L. denied their request, and fortunately, a female Vietnamese manager named Doi Thi Yen Linh interfered and saved her.

Linh and L. were friends when both were still in Vietnam, and it was Linh who lured L. to Cambodia in a ‘high-paying easy job” scam.

The joint forces immediately provided L.’s reports to Cambodian authorities which launched a raid and arrested Linh one day later, July 25, and handed her over to Vietnamese police.

Linh admitted to Vietnamese authorities that she had been involved in human trafficking activities since April 2024.

She lured and enticed schoolgirls to Cambodia with promises of high-paying jobs, mirroring the scam previously operated by Anh.

So far, only one individual, identified as L., has agreed to participate in Linh’s scheme.

Linh has been transferred to the Tay Ninh police department for further investigation.

The exact details of how Link and Anh may have coordinated their criminal activities remain undisclosed.

According to the Government's Steering Committee for Crime Prevention and Control, 98 human trafficking cases were uncovered nationwide in the first half of the year, leading to the arrest of 234 suspects.

In Tay Ninh, local authorities identified three human trafficking cases, prosecuted 12 suspects, and rescued 24 victims.

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