BEIJING -- A total of 104 suspects in telecom and online fraud cases have been returned to China from Laos, the Ministry of Public Security said Friday.

The suspects have been linked to more than 300 criminal cases, involving a total of over 30 million yuan (about $4.65 million).

Chinese police sent a team to Laos in 2017 to work with local police. By the end of 2017, they destroyed six dens, arrested 104 suspects and confiscated equipment including bank cards and computers.

The suspects were found to have been masquerading as law enforcement officials to extort money from people in the provinces of Henan and Shaanxi through telephone calls, the ministry said.

The ministry said that such behavior severely damaged the image of police, prosecutors and court officials and infringed on people's property rights.