At least 26 Chinese nationals were arrested in Thailand during a raid on a loan-sharking business operating from a luxury pool villa near Pattaya, media reports said.

The raid was conducted in an upscale housing project in a nation that attracts a large number of tourists from across the world every year.

The single-storey structure was surrounded by a fence and surveillance cameras, reported Bangkok Post.

Authorities found 25 Chinese men and a woman inside the house.

According to reports, they entered Thailand on a tourist or student visa and did not have a proper work permit.

These people operated an online lending business and targeted Chinese people staying outside Thailand.

They admitted to police that they had been lending money at a monthly interest rate of 60%, reported Bangkok Post.

Several Items Seized

Two laptops, 52 mobile phones, 77 sheets of Chinese-language accounting documents and 80,300 baht in cash were seized from them.

They have been charged with operating a credit business without a licence, being foreign nationals engaging in an occupation without permission and working without work permits, the newspaper reported.

Two of the Chinese nationals were additionally charged for overstaying on their visas.