Vietnamese police have arrested three local men accused of illegally detaining six Cambodian nationals, local media reports.

According to online newspaper VnExpress, police in the southern province of Kien Giang arrested the three – Ly Hong Sinh, 56, Nguyen Van Dung, 51, and Tran Van Duong, 46 – on Monday.

Police allege the Cambodian group entered the country a month ago to seek employment and met a Vietnamese man identified as Cuong, who reportedly promised to help them find work for VND300,000 per day (about $A17.5/day)

Cuong then purportedly handed the foreigners to the Vietnamese trio, who illegally detained them after failing to force them to work as offshore fishermen.

The trio made the abductees call home and demanded their family send VND3 million ransoms ($A175 dollars) for each Cambodian citizen, Thanh Nien news reported.

It’s believed a neighbour alerted police after noticing suspicious activities.

– TiVi Tuan-san