Three Taiwanese men were found dead in an apartment in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, has contacted the Cambodian government to obtain more information about the deaths, the ministry said.
Taiwanese in Cambodia who need help can call the office’s emergency line at (+84) 0903-927-019, it said.
Photo: CNA
The Chinese-language Cambodia China Times has reported that the bodies had bullet wounds and that police recovered a Glock 19 pistol from the site, as well as 41 bullets.
The men are believed to be Phnom Penh residents who had criminal records, and had separately left for Cambodia in February, last month and this month, Tainan police precinct chief Chiou Sian-liang (周顯良) told a news conference.
The precinct has contacted the families of the men and is awaiting guidance from the ministry on how to proceed with the matter, Chiou said.
The ministry said it would provide assistance to the families once the identities of the men have been confirmed.
Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou (歐江安) reiterated that Taiwan maintains a “red” travel alert — the highest on its three-level scale — for Cambodia.
Issued in November last year, the alert has not been lifted due to public security problems and the prevalence of job scams in that country, Ou said.
There have been many reports of fraud rings operating in Cambodia.
Several Taiwanese have been lured to Cambodia with promises of high-paying jobs, only to be forced to work in illegal online gambling schemes and other fraudulent businesses, she said.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said that three Taiwanese returning to Taiwan from an area of Myanmar known for human trafficking were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of being connected to a criminal ring in the Southeast Asian country.
The three individuals from “KK Park,” which has allegedly been involved in organ harvesting and sex trafficking, were found to be fugitives and might be members of a telecom extortion ring based at the park, it said.
The three were among 16 people who returned from KK Park on Saturday night after transiting in Bangkok, police said.
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