PHNOM PENH, Feb 1, (Xinhua): Cambodia has arrested a total of 2,044 foreigners in its latest crackdown on online scams, said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior on Sunday. The suspects, in eight nationalities, were apprehended during a raid on a casino with 22 buildings in southeastern Svay Rieng province's Bavet City, which shares border with Vietnam, on Saturday.

"This truly reflects that the Cambodian government will never loosen its crackdowns on online scam criminals," Ministry of Interior Spokesperson Touch Sokhak said in a news release. He said that Cambodia is "not a safe haven, but a hell for criminals." The Southeast Asian country has launched an unprecedented nationwide crackdown on cyber scam networks, aiming at maintaining and protecting security, public order and social safety.

According to a report from the Cambodia's Ad-Hoc Committee to Combat Online Scams last week, the kingdom arrested a total of 5,106 online scam suspects in 23 nationalities in the last seven months, with 4,534 of them deported to their birth countries.