The Colombo Central Crimes Investigation Division (CCID) on Wednesday arrested 18 Chinese nationals during simultaneous raids on premises in Kiribathgoda and Kollupitiya, seizing 40 mobile phones in what police described as a multi-target cybercrime operation, NewsFirst reported.
The suspects, who were in Sri Lanka on one-year visas, are accused of impersonating a US-based company to defraud overseas victims through online communications. Police said the operation had been running out of the two Colombo addresses for an undisclosed period, with the seized handsets understood to have been used for the impersonation calls and messages. Investigators are now examining the devices and visa records to determine the full scope of the network and any local Sri Lankan facilitators.
The arrests are the second large-scale cybercrime sweep of Chinese nationals in Colombo this year. In early May, 37 Chinese nationals were taken into custody at Thalangama in a similar online-scam operation. The two cases appear unrelated but share the broader pattern of foreign-led cyber-fraud cells operating from rented Colombo accommodation under tourist or short-stay visas — a trend the Police have publicly flagged since the Inspector General’s “landlords as enforcement target” framing in May.
The 18 suspects were due to be produced before a magistrate, NewsFirst said. Police did not release the names of the individuals or the specific US company allegedly impersonated, but said an extradition or deportation track would be considered once domestic investigations conclude. The Chinese embassy in Colombo had not commented publicly at the time of reporting.
Update — June 13: All 18 remanded until June 18: The suspects were produced before the Mahara Magistrate’s Court Complex on Saturday and remanded until June 18, NewsFirst reported. Police clarified that the operation had been conducted by officers of the Central Crimes Investigation Bureau (CCIB) on charges spanning online fraud, document forgery and the possession of duty-free cigarettes. Investigators took into custody several forged letters bearing the seals of the US states of California and Colorado that had been in the suspects’ possession, along with a number of rubber stamps used to manufacture those fraudulent documents. The forged letterheads suggest the network was issuing fabricated US-state correspondence as part of its impersonation operation, alongside the phone-based communications uncovered in Wednesday’s seizure of 40 handsets.
Sources: NewsFirst — 18 Chinese nationals arrested in cybercrime bust in Colombo; NewsFirst — Chinese nationals remanded in Makola online financial fraud case.
