It is about the mighty Ming family, who is in control in the Myanmarse town of Laukkai, close to the Chinese border. The area has grown into a gambling center, where drugs are traded and countless scam centers operate. It is estimated that more than one hundred thousand foreigners, especially the Chinese, have been lured to these centers. Anyone who ended up there was locked up and forced to cooperate in advanced online scams against victims worldwide.
Stuffy penalties
In 2023 Myanmar intervened against the criminal activities of the family, after which members were extradited to China. Ming Xuechang, the Patriarch, reportedly chose to death.
Thailand catches wave of ‘cyber slaves’ from Myanmar after rescue action: ‘They were tortured and worked non-stop’
According to Chinese state media, 39 family members were convicted on Monday: eleven received the death penalty, five a death penalty with a conditional period of two years, eleven lifelong and the rest prison sentences of five to 24 years. Thousands of people who were forced in the centers have since been liberated.
Shot during escapes
The Chinese court stated that the Ming family and other gangs have been active since 2015 in telecommunicative fraud, drug trafficking, prostitution and illegal casinos. Employees were even shot to prevent them from escaping and returning to China.
Originally these centers were used to meet the Chinese demand for gambling, which is forbidden in China itself. They are now also used for money laundering and, according to the United Nations, they are part of a ‘scam demia’. In April, the UN warned that Chinese and Southeast Asian gangs earn dozens of billions of dollars with these scams centers every year.
Kidnapped Chinese actor
At the beginning of this year, the world gained a real view of these criminal activities in Southeast Asia for the first time, when a well-known Chinese actor became missing. His girlfriend made a call on social media, which went viral. After a search, it turned out that the 22-year-old had been lured to Thailand and fell into the hands of the Mafia in Myanmar. A few days later, a wave of relief went through China, when it became known that the rescue campaign was successful and the actor could go home again.
In February, China, Myanmar and Thailand joined forces against these centers in border areas. This led to the release of thousands of employees, mainly Chinese citizens.