A pan-government task force formed to tackle transnational crimes has arrested 26 individuals, many of them South Koreans, who have been implicated in sexploitation crimes in Cambodia.

Cheong Wa Dae announced in a briefing Monday that the task force recently arrested members of a Cambodia-based crime ring who were impersonating state agencies and committing sexual extortion against women.

They allegedly impersonated the prosecution and the Financial Supervisory Service and targeted South Korean women living in Phnom Penh by tricking them with fake criminal accusations to extort money and goods.

They also allegedly isolated the victims in hotels or lodging facilities and forced them to take and transmit sexually exploitative videos or photos, according to the presidential office.

So far 165 victims have been identified, with the total damage amounting to 26-point-seven billion won or over 18 million US dollars.

The top office said the arrests were made by the South Korean task force in cooperation with the National Intelligence Service and Cambodian police, but it did not release further details such as the nationalities of the other suspects they arrested.

The government said it will ensure that justice is done in line with President Lee Jae Myung’s orders by swiftly repatriating the South Korean suspects.