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Article History

Received: 20 July 2024

Accepted: 23 July 2025

First Online: 12 August 2025

Competing interests

: The author’s participation in a wider project on transnational crime in Southeast Asia, spearheaded by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), benefited this study. The author declares no potential conflict of interest.

: The questionnaire and methodology for this study were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the USIP (Number #95314423P1QA00824, dated July 23, 2023). The ethical approval permits the researcher to conduct fieldwork and interviews, collect and analysis data.

: All participants were adults, and no vulnerable individuals were involved. By contacting participants through personal introductions, informed consent was obtained verbally prior to the interview in August 2023. Interview participants were fully informed of their right to withdraw from the interview at any time, after the researcher had explained this option. They answered our questions voluntarily and without any obligation. While the anonymity of participants was assured, they were not offered to record; instead, the researcher took notes. Additionally, to ensure privacy and confidentiality, this study excluded identifying details of offenders, victims, and officers (including names, dates of birth, identity numbers, and biometric characteristics) from the interviews with participants.