China Sentences Five to Death Over Links to Myanmar Scam Gangs as Regional Crackdown Intensifies

China sentences five to death over Myanmar scam compounds

China on Tuesday handed down death sentences to five people for their roles in a violent criminal organization that ran fraud operations in Myanmar's Kokang region along the border, state media reported.

According to a Shenzhen court cited by state news agency Xinhua, the group's activities included telecom fraud, operating gambling dens, intentional homicide, organizing and coercing prostitution, and arranging illegal border crossings. The court said the gang built 41 scam compounds and that their crimes led to the deaths of six Chinese nationals, one Chinese national's suicide and injuries to several others.

In the same ruling, two other defendants received death sentences with two-year reprieves (a verdict that commonly results in life imprisonment), five were given life sentences, and nine received prison terms ranging from three to 20 years. In late September, another Chinese court issued death sentences to 16 members of a family-run gang operating in Kokang, with five of those sentences commuted to death with two-year reprieves.

International context and scope

Scam compounds — sprawling operations that run romance and business cons online — have proliferated in Myanmar's poorly governed borderlands since the 2021 coup. The United Nations has warned that criminal networks from China and Southeast Asia are generating tens of billions of dollars annually from cyber scam centers.

While Myanmar’s border regions have become a major epicenter, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime says the illicit industry has spread to South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and parts of the Pacific. An investigation last year exposed large-scale fraud operations targeting Americans from scam centers in Ghana and highlighted how young recruits can be coerced into transnational syndicates.

Raids, repatriations and human-rights concerns

Crackdowns and apparent raids at sites such as the notorious "KK Park" facility in late October prompted hundreds of workers to flee across the river into Thailand’s Mae Sot. Thai authorities reported that more than 1,500 people from 28 countries crossed into Thailand during the upheaval; nearly 500 of them were Indian nationals awaiting repatriation.

Many staff at the fraud factories say they were trafficked into the operations, though analysts note some workers go willingly for attractive pay offers. Escaped workers who reached Thailand have told news agencies they endured beatings, electric shocks and other abuses, and that they worked long hours without pay and without contact with family.

“I received electric shock every day. I was punched every day,” said a 19-year-old Ethiopian who escaped a compound and described 18-hour workdays without salary or family contact.

Role of Myanmar and China

Experts say Myanmar’s military, which has ruled since the 2021 coup, has largely tolerated or turned a blind eye to the centers; profits are believed to flow to militias that collaborate with the junta in its fight against rebel forces. At the same time, China has stepped up pressure on Myanmar and increased regional cooperation to dismantle the compounds as Beijing seeks to protect its nationals and curb cross-border criminal networks.

This case is part of a broader, ongoing effort by regional governments and international agencies to crack down on an expanding global industry of online fraud and human trafficking.