125 suspects previously apprehended by Sri Lankan police have recently been repatriated to China, against the backdrop of deepening international law enforcement cooperation between the two countries and intensified efforts to combat cross-border telecom fraud, according to the information released by China’s Ministry of Public Security on its affiliated Wechat account on Thursday.

Since the beginning of this year, in response to a notable trend of telecom fraud and related illicit networks relocating from other countries to Sri Lanka, Chinese and Sri Lankan police have continuously deepened practical law enforcement cooperation and stepped up efforts to combat such crimes.

Recently, Sri Lankan police have carried out multiple inspection and crackdown operations, dismantling several fraud dens and arresting a number of suspects involved in telecom fraud.

With strong support from the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Public Security on March 29 organized police officers from Central China’s Hubei Province to orderly escort the suspects back to China. At present, public security authorities in Hubei are making all-out efforts to advance the investigation of the cases.

Officials with China’s Ministry of Public Security said Chinese police will continue to expand international law enforcement cooperation with more countries, maintain a tough stance against telecom fraud, and work toward building a more efficient and coordinated framework to combat transnational crime, per the statement.