In March, former casino employee Tran Ngoc Chung, 19, brought four people from his hometown across the border to Cambodia, selling them to casino owners for $650 per head. He had promised to find them "good jobs" in Cambodia.

All four were later abused and forced to do illegal work such as committing online fraud, according to Thanh Hoa police.

Since April, Thanh Hoa authorities discovered 27 locals had been tricked to work at casinos outside Vietnam, mostly in Cambodia. Nineteen were rescued, four returned home after their families paid the casinos, while four others remain in Cambodia.

To date, local police have placed eight suspects under investigation for trafficking people to Cambodia.

Source: VNE