A group of illegal surrogate mothers were caught in Cambodia.Pregnancy and childbirth in a camp.

An illegal surrogate mother organization has been caught in Cambodia, receiving money from her camp and giving birth to a baby instead.

According to the Associated Press, Cambodia's Interior Ministry said police recently raided a villa in Kandal, near the capital Phnom Penh, and arrested 24 women, including 20 Filipinos and four Vietnamese.

Of these, 13 Filipino women were pregnant.

Police believe a Thailand-based company recruited surrogates online and provided accommodation and board in Cambodia, and are investigating.

Of the women caught, 13 pregnant women have been charged with violating the anti-trafficking and sex exploitation laws, and could face up to five years in prison after giving birth, the Interior Ministry said.

Authorities believe that they were not victims, but conspired with the company to act as surrogates and then participated in the crime of handing over the baby for money.

Seven unpregnant Filipino women and four Vietnamese women will be deported.

Few countries allow surrogacy, which is allowed in some states in the United States, but costs about $150,000 (KRW 200 million).

The government banned commercial surrogacy in 2016 as Cambodia was used as a surrogate birthplace for foreigners, but the crackdown has not eradicated surrogacy.

In Cambodia, an Australian nurse was sentenced to one and a half years in prison for recruiting 23 local women and performing artificial insemination for 18 Australian couples and five American couples in 2017.

In 2018, 33 surrogate mothers and 33 large surrogate birth brokers who hired dozens of local women as mothers were also caught, and surrogate mothers who were pregnant for Chinese customers were released promising to raise their babies themselves.