Overview
- State media said the gang’s crimes caused the deaths of six Chinese nationals, a seventh person’s suicide, and injuries to several others.
- The court found the group built 41 compounds in Myanmar’s Kokang region and ran telecom fraud, gambling dens, intentional homicides, and coerced prostitution, while organizing illegal border crossings.
- Two additional defendants received death sentences with two-year reprieves, five were jailed for life, and nine others drew three- to 20-year terms.
- Beijing has intensified cooperation with Southeast Asian partners to target the scam centers, leading to mass repatriations of workers to China.
- The UN Office on Drugs and Crime says cyber-scam operations generate tens of billions of dollars yearly, employ hundreds of thousands, and are spreading beyond Asia to multiple regions.