Koreans arrested carrying $2.2M at Siem Reap airport
TWO South Koreans were nabbed by immigration police at Siem Reap Internationa l Airport on Sunday when attempting to bring more than $2 million in cash into Cambodia from Hong Kong.
The National Police website on Monday said two Korean men aged 44 and 33 were arrested shortly after their arriva l on a Hong Kong Express Air ways flight.
“Upon t heir arriva l, immigration police cooperated with t he
Customs and Excise Bureau at Siem Reap Internationa l Airport and arrested t he two South Korean nationa ls.
“The t wo foreign men were attempting to illega lly bring in $2.2 million from Hong Kong. The money was made up of 21,900 $100 bills and 200 $ 50 bills,” the National Police said.
The suspects were handed over to the Siem Reap Investigation and Procedure Implementation Department, while t he $2.2 million is to be kept temporarily at the Customs and Excise Bureau at Siem Reap airport while f urt her procedures are carried out.
“The maximum amount of money that travellers can bring into the country is only $10,000. Anything more than this will be held by authorities while they carry out an investigation,” the National Police said.
Sen Sun Day, the chief of operations at the airport confirmed to The Post on Monday that two South Korean nationa ls attempting to bring $2.2 million wit hout a clear source into Cambodia had been arrested t here.
The suspects were detained and t he ev idence confiscated af ter aut horities cooperated i n a joint operation, Sun Day said. He declined to comment as to what further action would be ta ken.
“The case is in the hands of immigration police. I cannot say any t hing more for fear of af fecting t heir investigation,” Sun Day said.
However, Sun Day said it was the largest amount of money he had seen attempted to be brought into Cambodia through Siem Reap airport.
The Post on Monday could not
reach Keo Vanthan, the deputy director-general of the General Department of Immigration at the Ministry of Interior, which carried out the operation.
Kem Sarin, the director of the Administration Department at the General Department of Immigration, declined to comment, referring questions to Keo Vanthan.
General Department of Immigration spokesman Uk Hai Seila a lso declined to comment.
Ministry of Interior central security department director and deputy National Police chief Dy Vichea told The Post on June 5 that money laundering offences had increased in an intertwined and complex manner.
He said this year, the authorities had seized $4 million in cash at Phnom Penh International Airport. During the same period, he said, approximately $10 million of dirty money had been detected flowing through banks.
The ministr y a lso held a meeting to rev iew its progress report for t he first half of t he year and set goals for t he second semester.
Officials from different general departments and units at the ministry as well as working groups led by Ngy Chanpal, secretary of state and chair of the Review Panel Group tasked with cracking down on money laundering and the financing of terrorism participated in the meeting.
This is the third seizure of large amounts of money at the Kingdom’s airports in as many months.
A 48-year-old Chinese welder suspected of attempting to launder money was arrested by Phnom Penh municipal authorities on May 29 after he was found entering Cambodia with $855,000.
The Chinese national was detained at the Phnom Penh International Airport after he was found attempting to smuggle the cash into Cambodia from Hong Kong.
On April 23, officia ls from the Immigration and General Department of Customs and Excise at Phnom Penh Internationa l airport arrested three Chinese nationa ls for attempting to bring $ 3.52 million into t he Kingdom from Hong Kong without being able to identif y its source.