Over 10,000 foreign nationals, including 31 Japanese citizens, are thought to be held captive at the Myanmar-Thailand border by a Chinese crime ring, according to multiple reports.

Foreign nationals from several countries have been held at the border and forced to participate in a variety of scams. The Thai Royal Police, in cooperation with Myanmar authorities, are looking to crack down on the group and rescue its captives in the coming days.

Immanuel Foundation, a local Thai NGO that works to combat human trafficking, said that so far it has rescued around 3,000 people from at least 30 countries including Kenya, Ghana and India, with many being from South Africa. The organization has rescued one Japanese national so far.

However, it estimates that significantly more people are still being held captive in the area, and is working to rescue them. The foundation is offering translators to assist the many foreign victims, as well as providing accommodation and support as they travel back to their home country.

The organization says that the victims fly to Thailand because human traffickers are recruiting people on online platforms to work in Bangkok or other places in Thailand. Once the people arrive they are taken to the Thailand-Myanmar border, where there are many places for the syndicate to operate amid problems with corruption in the immigration police.

According to NHK, two Japanese teens have been taken into protective custody so far. A 16-year-old high schooler from Aichi Prefecture said that he was solicited into yami baito, or a shady part-time job, through an online posting for jobs that can be done abroad.

He was flown to Thailand last December and had been made to work on scams targeting elderly people in Japan from the crime syndicate’s base in Myanmar.

Another 17-year-old, who was rescued last month, was also asked to fly to Thailand through a man that he met while playing an online game. The 29-year-old Japanese man thought to be responsible was arrested on Thursday at an airport in Bangkok by Thai police. He was also arrested for allegedly holding another man captive in Osaka last August, according to Jiji Press.

On Monday, the Thai Royal Police held a meeting with representatives from 18 countries, including Japan, as well as international organizations like the United Nations regarding the transnational scam operation.

In the meeting, it was disclosed that the Thai government had intensified efforts to crack down on the operation by cutting off electricity, internet and fuel supplies to the area, which has resulted in the release of several victims and arrests of some of the perpetrators, the Thai Royal Police said.

They also have been conducting stricter screenings on foreign visitors attempting to enter the Mae Sot District in the west of Thailand in order to prevent tourists from being deceived and trafficked by the group, with some canceling trips when notified of the risks in the area.