Behind the glittering façade of Cambodian casinos, a dark underworld thrives — a network of cross-border loan sharks, torture cells, and human captivity. What begins as “easy money” for desperate gamblers often ends in debt, violence, and death.
The recent arrest of Ngô Phi Long, a 32-year-old from Hanoi, has exposed the horrifying realities of underground credit syndicates operating inside Cambodian casinos. His ring lured Vietnamese gamblers, trapped them in debt, and tortured them for ransom — and in one case, murdered a victim and dumped his body in a drainage canal.
Body Found in Cambodian Border City
The investigation began when police in Bavet City, Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia, discovered a bound male corpse in a waterway on December 2, 2024.
The victim was identified as T.V.H., 41, from Lao Cai Province, Vietnam — a gambler who had crossed the border to chase fortune and instead met a brutal end.
Working with Cambodian authorities, Vietnam’s Criminal Police Department (C02) deployed elite investigators across the border. The team soon uncovered a highly organized criminal network that ran a violent loan-sharking operation from within casino compounds.
“It was a system of enslavement disguised as gambling credit,” said Senior Lieutenant Colonel Le Vinh Tung, deputy head of C02’s Serious Crimes Division. “Victims were held, tortured, and forced to beg their families for ransom. Some never came back.”
Cross-Border Black Credit Empire
According to police, in early 2024, Ngô Phi Long established his so-called “credit empire” across multiple casinos near the Mộc Bài border gate (Tây Ninh Province).
Long recruited two lieutenants — Nguyễn Mạnh Hải and Nguyễn Hoàng Long — to lead separate teams. Their task: hunt down desperate Vietnamese gamblers, offer them quick loans, and trap them in crippling debt.
Loans were handed out on the spot, often 50–200 million VND, with ID cards as collateral. Borrowers faced 10% interest every three days and an extra 15% surcharge on each winning bet.
When debtors couldn’t pay, they were seized and taken to rented “safe houses” near casinos — secret prisons disguised as local lodgings. Inside, victims were beaten, electrocuted, filmed, and forced to call family members to beg for money.
All operations were run through encrypted Telegram groups named “Tài-Lộc” and “Lộc-Phát”, where the gang coordinated loans, tracked victims, and ordered punishment.
The Victim’s Two Trips into Hell
Records show that in October 2024, victim T.V.H. borrowed 200 million VND from Hải’s group at a casino near Mộc Bài. After losing everything, he was kidnapped, beaten, and forced to call his wife for 250 million VND in ransom.
He escaped only because Cambodian authorities raided the premises.
Gamblers who borrow money to gamble will be tortured and filmed, sent to their families to demand ransom PHOTO: PROVIDED BY POLICE
But in November 2024, his gambling addiction lured him back across the border — this time to borrow 100 million VND from another faction under Nguyễn Hoàng Long. When he lost again, he was detained once more.
The gang soon discovered his previous unpaid debt. Furious, they demanded his family pay 500 million VND — including a $5,000 “penalty” for escaping earlier.
On December 1, 2024, while being transferred between gangs, T.V.H. resisted. In a fit of rage, Nguyễn Hoàng Long stabbed him three times in the chest and arm inside a moving car.
He died shortly afterward.
His body was wrapped in a blanket and dumped in a drainage canal in Bavet City, while the killers fled back to Vietnam.
Coordinated Crackdown Across Borders
Following a joint investigation by Vietnamese and Cambodian police, seven key suspects were arrested — including ringleader Ngô Phi Long and the murderer Nguyễn Hoàng Long.
Autopsy reports confirmed death by internal bleeding from chest wounds, consistent with the suspects’ confessions.
The C02 Department has since charged seven individuals:
-
Five (including Ngô Phi Long and Nguyễn Hoàng Long) with murder, robbery, and unlawful imprisonment,
-
Two others with robbery and illegal detention.
“The brutality of this case — the torture, the killing, the disposal — shows the extreme danger of underground credit systems tied to foreign casinos,” said Lt. Col. Tung. “But it also proves the strength of cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia in dismantling transnational crime.”
Casinos: The New Frontline of Crime
Authorities warn that Cambodian border casinos have become hubs for human trafficking, illegal detention, and loan-sharking rings targeting Vietnamese nationals.
What begins as a gamble often becomes a nightmare — a modern “hell on earth” just beyond the border.
The Ngô Phi Long case is now being held up as a landmark victory in cross-border criminal justice, but also a chilling reminder of how quickly debt and desperation can turn deadly.
Discover more from Vietnam Insider
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.