Beijing (CNN) A charter flight carrying 94 Taiwanese criminal suspects arrived in Beijing from Spain on Friday morning, making it the first large-scale extradition from Europe to China, state media reported.

The Chinese government accused the Spain-based suspects of posing as Chinese law enforcement officials and defrauding people in China out of 120 million yuan ($17 million) in 2016 through phone calls, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Chinese and Spanish authorities worked together to uncover suspects and collect evidence as part of "Operation Great Wall," culminating in the arrest of 237 suspects across Spain in December 2016, Xinhua reported.

Since all victims were mainland Chinese residents, the Beijing government in 2017 requested the extradition of the suspects from Spain to "better crack down on the crime and serve the victims' interest." After more than two years of judicial procedures, Xinhua said a Spanish court agreed to hand all suspects caught in "Operation Great Wall" over to the Chinese authorities.

Spain has so far extradited 225 suspects, including 218 from Taiwan, in several batches to China, Xinhua added.

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