Taiwanese YouTubers arrested after deportation from Cambodia

Taipei, March 20 (CNA) Two Taiwanese YouTubers were arrested upon arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Thursday night after being deported from Cambodia, where they had served two-year jail terms for staging a fake abduction in Sihanoukville in 2024.

Chen Neng-chuan (陳能釧) and Lu Tsu-hsien (魯祖顯) -- known by the handles "Goodnight Chicken" (晚安小雞) and "Anow" (阿鬧), respectively -- were immediately arrested at their arrival gate by Taiwanese authorities on outstanding warrants.

They are wanted by prosecutors in Taipei's Shilin, Kinmen, and Miaoli for a series of crimes, including property damage, obstruction of freedom, and fraud. The two will be questioned by prosecutors in those areas.

Escorted by law enforcement officers at the airport, Chen spoke briefly, apologizing for wasting Taiwan's resources over the past year or two and voicing regret at having made the fake videos.

Sihanoukville, a coastal city in southwestern Cambodia, has gained notoriety for harboring numerous scam compounds that lure people, including some from Taiwan, with promises of high-paying jobs before forcing them to carry out scams.

Abuses at these compounds, including kidnapping and human trafficking, have been widely documented, and the YouTubers used that setting as a backdrop for their staged videos.

In 2024, Chen, who is known for paranormal videos and currently has roughly 120,000 YouTube subscribers, ran livestreams on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 in which he pretended to flee a kidnapping attempt with Lu's help.

After seeing the videos, local police issued a missing person alert, only to find Chen and Lu in a local apartment filled with props used to stage the abduction.

The two were arrested and later found guilty of "inciting and causing social disorder" by the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court, which handed down two-year prison sentences to each.