China has carried out further executions of individuals convicted over their roles in large-scale scam and gambling operations run out of Myanmar, as Beijing intensifies its crackdown on transnational fraud networks operating across Southeast Asia.
The Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court in southern China announced that four people were executed after being found guilty of crimes linked to scam centres based in northern Myanmar. According to the court, the group was responsible for fraud and gambling operations valued at more than 29 billion yuan (about $4.2 billion) and for causing the deaths of six Chinese citizens.
The court described the crimes as “exceptionally heinous,” saying they posed a serious threat to society. The convicts had appealed their sentences, but higher courts rejected their appeals before the executions were carried out. Authorities did not specify the exact date the sentences were implemented.
The announcement follows reports last week that 11 other individuals connected to similar scam operations in Myanmar had also been executed.
Industrial-Scale Crime Networks
Chinese authorities say the criminal groups operated out of so-called scam centres or “fraud parks” in Myanmar’s border regions, particularly in areas where governance is weak. These centres allegedly ran telecommunications fraud, online gambling, kidnapping, extortion, forced prostitution, and drug trafficking operations.
Investigators say thousands of people — including trafficked victims and others lured by false job offers — were forced to work in these operations, targeting victims around the world, including many Chinese nationals.
Regional and International Pressure
The executions are part of a broader effort by Beijing to dismantle scam networks across Southeast Asia, especially in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, where such operations have grown into highly organised, industrial-scale criminal enterprises.
Governments in the region have faced mounting international pressure to act against the proliferation of scam centres, which are often linked to human trafficking and other serious abuses.
Security analysts say many of the operations are run by Chinese-led criminal syndicates working in partnership with local armed groups, taking advantage of instability in parts of Myanmar. While Myanmar’s military authorities have announced several crackdowns in recent months, observers say enforcement has been uneven.
China has increasingly taken a hard line on citizens involved in overseas scam networks, warning of severe punishment for those who organise or participate in such operations.
