Poipet town police chief Um Sophal yesterday vowed to ascertain whether the 38 Chinese nationals arrested on Wednesday at the Golden Crown Casino, owned by ruling party Senator Kok An, had any accomplices still in the city, while suggesting that action against the group hadn’t been taken sooner because of crossed jurisdictional wires.

“In the past, we thought that the inspection of foreigners’ passports and visas was the duty of the immigration police, and the maintenance of public safety and security is the duty of the local police,” said Sophal.

“From now on, we want collective cooperation to intercept transnational criminals so that we can ensure public safety, security and order.”

The suspects, however, had been in the country on legitimate visas for some time, and were arrested on the basis of arrest warrants issued by a Chinese court for alleged voice over internet protocol extortion scams.

Sophal went on to say he will send a letter to the Interior Ministry requesting assistance in tracking down any accomplices the 38 might have had.

“Now we’re sending our detectives to investigate,” he added.