A joint task force between South Korea and Cambodia has apprehended a number of wanted fugitives as part of a crackdown on crimes targeting South Korean nationals in the Southeast Asian country.

South Korea’s National Police Agency said Wednesday that it had taken 140 suspects into custody in cooperation with Cambodian authorities, including six who were subject to Interpol red notices, and rescued four South Korean nationals.

The six red notice suspects, apprehended between December 22 of last year and February 10, have served as mid- to high-level managers within criminal organizations.

Police said they had formed a pan-government task force on transnational crimes, centered on the joint team, to coordinate among the National Intelligence Service, the South Korean embassy in Phnom Penh and the Cambodian National Police.

Police added that the task force would expand its investigation to accomplices within the criminal network's full hierarchy, focusing on ringleaders and managerial-level suspects.

Police also said authorities are monitoring the possibility of a so-called balloon effect, in which criminal groups relocate their bases or alter operational methods.