MANILA - The Philippines has repatriated seven of its nationals who had been arrested at a special economic zone in Laos near its borders with Myanmar and Thailand, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Saturday, citing the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The government is working with Laotian authorities to bring home 75 more Filipinos who were among 771 people arrested in an anti-crime drive at the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), the newspaper reported.
Most of the detained were from Myanmar, China, India, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, it said.
The GTSEZ is a self-governed enclave created by the Laotian government in 2007 in cooperation with Hong Kong-registered Kings Romans Group owned by Chinese businessman Zhao Wei.
Investigators consider the zone to be a hub for criminal activity, Bloomberg Businessweek reported last week. One of its main businesses is drug trafficking and more recently, it has diversified into hosting scam centres where many of the operators were victims of human trafficking, the magazine said.
The government is working with Laotian authorities to bring home 75 more Filipinos who were among 771 people arrested in an anti-crime drive at the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), the newspaper reported.
Most of the detained were from Myanmar, China, India, Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, it said.
The GTSEZ is a self-governed enclave created by the Laotian government in 2007 in cooperation with Hong Kong-registered Kings Romans Group owned by Chinese businessman Zhao Wei.
Investigators consider the zone to be a hub for criminal activity, Bloomberg Businessweek reported last week. One of its main businesses is drug trafficking and more recently, it has diversified into hosting scam centres where many of the operators were victims of human trafficking, the magazine said.
