China has executed 11 individuals linked to online scam centres operating in Myanmar, state media reports, as Beijing intensifies its crackdown on these illegal operations.
The executions took place on Thursday and involved people who had been sentenced to death in September by a court in Wenzhou, an eastern Chinese city, according to Xinhua, which confirmed that the same court carried out the sentences.
The convicted were found guilty of crimes including “intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud, and casino establishment,” Xinhua added.
These fraud compounds, which often lure internet users into fake romantic relationships or cryptocurrency schemes, have proliferated across Southeast Asia, particularly in Myanmar’s borderlands. Initially targeting Chinese-speaking victims, the criminal groups behind these operations have expanded their reach to multiple languages to defraud people worldwide.
Workers at these centres are sometimes willing participants, but in other cases, trafficked foreign nationals are forced to carry out the scams.
In recent years, China has increased cooperation with Thailand and Myanmar to dismantle these operations, leading to the repatriation of thousands of suspects to face trial.
The Supreme People’s Court in Beijing approved the death sentences, determining that evidence of crimes committed since 2015 was “conclusive and sufficient,” Xinhua reported.
Among those executed were members of the “Ming family criminal group,” whose activities were linked to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to many others.
Fraud operations based in Myanmar’s border regions have extracted billions of dollars globally through online scams. Experts note that many of these centres are run by Chinese-led syndicates collaborating with Myanmar militias, exploiting the country’s political instability and ongoing conflict.
While Myanmar’s military government has historically overlooked these operations, it began publicly cracking down on them in February following lobbying from China. Analysts say some raids serve a propaganda purpose, projecting action to Beijing without significantly impacting profits for militia allies. For instance, in October, over 2,000 people were arrested in a raid on KK Park, a notorious scam centre on the Thai border.
The September court rulings that led to Thursday’s executions also included death sentences with two-year reprieves for five other individuals, while 23 additional suspects received prison terms ranging from five years to life.
In November, Chinese authorities sentenced five people to death for involvement in scam operations in Myanmar’s Kokang region, which had caused the deaths of six Chinese nationals.
The United Nations estimates that as many as 120,000 people may be working in online scam centres in Myanmar, with another 100,000 possibly trapped in Cambodia, and thousands more across Southeast Asia.
The online scam industry in Cambodia surged after the COVID-19 pandemic, when many Chinese-owned casinos and hotels pivoted to illicit operations. Operating from large-scale centres, tens of thousands of workers perpetrate online romance scams, commonly called “pig-butchering,” targeting victims in the West and generating tens of billions of dollars annually.
In April, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime warned that the cyberscam industry is spreading globally, reaching South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and several Pacific Islands.
In October, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Cambodia-based Prince Group, which operates a network of scam centres in Cambodia, Myanmar, and the wider region.
