Alleged South Korean's human trafficking kingpin captured in Việt Nam

Yeo Sungjin is suspected of fraud. Photo courtesy of the Khánh Hoà Police

KHÁNH HÒA — An alleged transnational fraud and human trafficking kingpin has been arrested in Khánh Hòa Province fewer than eight months after he was placed under a wanted order by a South Korean court and an Interpol Red Notice was issued for him as an especially dangerous offender.

On November 21, Khánh Hòa Provincial Police apprehended Yeo Sungjin, 37, a South Korean national, while he was hiding in a luxury apartment within the Mường Thanh Viễn Triều apartment–hotel complex in Bắc Nha Trang Ward.

According to Interpol Red Notice A-4658/4-2025 requested by South Korea, Yeo was one of the key executives of a large romance scam and human trafficking ring operating out of a criminal compound in Bavet, Cambodia, near the Vietnamese border.

From August 2024 to February 2025, under Yeo’s direct command, a group of around 60 people used deepfake technology to create large numbers of fake social media accounts for attractive women, targeting men in multiple Asian countries.

The organisation operated by building romantic trust and luring victims into transferring money via fake travel websites, promising full refunds along with free flights and hotel stays, purportedly for trips together.

In that period alone, the ring allegedly defrauded victims of at least US$1million.

Defrauding money was only the first step. Many victims, after being coaxed into coming to Việt Nam to meet their purported partner, were allegedly taken by Yeo or his accomplices and smuggled across the border into Cambodia.

In the notorious criminal compounds in Bavet, their passports were confiscated, they were held in confinement, assaulted and forced to continue scamming others; those who resisted were brutally beaten or sold to other criminal groups.

For these alleged acts, Yeo has been charged in South Korea with three particularly serious offences: fraud, participation in a structured criminal organisation, and human trafficking.

After part of the ring was dismantled earlier this year, Yeo fled Cambodia, moving clandestinely through the Golden Triangle region before illegally entering Việt Nam to continue evading arrest.

At the time of his arrest, Yeo’s red notice had not yet appeared in the international database of wanted criminals accessible in Việt Nam.

However, through stringent monitoring of foreign nationals and heightened vigilance, the Immigration Management Division of Khánh Hòa Police detected that Yeo was residing illegally in the Mường Thanh Viễn Triều apartment.

During a unit inspection, he was unable to present any identity documents and displayed numerous suspicious signs. Through specialised investigative measures, officers confirmed he was the subject of the urgent Interpol Red Notice.

On the same day, the provincial police swiftly completed case documentation, executed an emergency custody order and coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security's Department of Foreign Affairs to request official verification from the South Korean side via the Interpol National Central Bureau in South Korea, preparing legal procedures for his expulsion from Việt Nam.

Khánh Hòa Police have escorted Yeo to Cam Ranh International Airport for a direct handover to South Korean police on the night of November 26, implementing extradition in accordance with Vietnamese law and existing mutual legal assistance agreements.

In addition to handling Yeo, provincial authorities are expanding the investigation to clarify acts of 'Organising or brokering for others to exit, enter or stay in Việt Nam illegally' committed by individuals, organisations and lodging establishments that assisted or facilitated his evasion within the locality. — VNS

Suspect Yeo Sungjin (fifth from right) is handed over to South Korean police at Cam Ranh International Airport on the evening of November 26. The South Korean police has escorted Yeo on a flight to Seoul for further legal proceedings. — Photo from the police