BANGKOK/BEIJING — China has executed 11 members of a Myanmar-based crime syndicate blamed for running sprawling online scam and illegal gambling operations along the China-Myanmar border, in what analysts see as Beijing’s clearest warning yet to criminal networks that have preyed heavily on Chinese victims.
The executions were carried out by the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang province after the Supreme People’s Court approved the death sentences, according to Chinese state media cited by overseas outlets. Those executed had been convicted of crimes including intentional homicide, unlawful detention, fraud and operating casinos, with authorities saying their activities since 2015 contributed to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to others. Appeals were rejected in November, and relatives were allowed to meet the convicts ahead of the executions, reports said.
The group is linked to the “Ming family” network that helped turn Laukkai/Laukkaing in Myanmar’s Kokang region into a hub for casinos, red-light businesses and, later, industrial-scale scam compounds that relied on a mix of voluntary recruits and people trafficked or coerced into forced online fraud. Members of the Ming network were detained in late 2023 amid Chinese pressure on border authorities to crack down on scam parks, and some suspects were later handed to China after the Myanmar junta lost control of parts of Kokang to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).
The executions come as Southeast Asia’s scam economy continues to mutate and spread. A UN Human Rights Office report said credible sources indicate at least 120,000 people in Myanmar and around 100,000 in Cambodia may be trapped in scam operations, often facing torture, arbitrary detention and forced labour. UNODC has warned that scam-centre networks are being displaced by enforcement pressure and reappearing across border areas in Cambodia, Laos and elsewhere, generating “just under” $40 billion in annual profits.
Even as China tightens the net in Kokang, the business has shifted strongly toward Myanmar’s border with Thailand. Thai police told Reuters that despite multinational crackdowns, scam hubs around Myawaddy may still employ up to 100,000 people.
Chinese authorities have signalled more severe penalties are coming: in November 2025, a court sentenced five members of the Bai-linked syndicate to death over scam compounds in Kokang, and prosecutors say cases involving the Wei and Liu groups have moved forward.
