Myanmar military raids online scam hub, arrests nearly 350 on Thai border

In a highly publicized crackdown against the booming black-market compounds, Myanmar’s military claims to have arrested nearly 350 people and conducted an internet scam hub raid on the Thai border.

The army claimed action on Wednesday after restoring territorial control after blaming armed opposition groups for allowing scam centers to operate under their control.

According to state-run The Global New Light of Myanmar, Myanmar’s military reportedly seized Shwe Kokko, a gambling and fraud hub, on Tuesday morning.

346 foreign nationals are being detained while conducting the operation, according to the daily. Nearly 10,000 mobile devices used in online gambling operations were also seized.

She Zhijiang, an alleged racketeer from China, was “the entity involved” in running the Shwe Kokko area, according to the report.

He is accused of participating in online gambling and fraud operations and was arrested in Thailand in 2022 and extradited to China last week. Before long, she and Yatai, her business, were subject to US and British sanctions.

The border regions that connect Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia have become hotbeds for online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations claims that these regions have generated billions of dollars as a result of the coercion of hundreds of thousands of people into working in shady facilities.

China’s pressure

Experts claim that China, a key military supporter, has lobbied against Myanmar’s military government, which has long been accused of blinding it. However, it has since proclaimed a crackdown in February.

Some observers believe that additional raids started last month as part of a propaganda campaign designed to counteract Beijing’s influence without severely reducing profits that benefit the military government’s militia allies.

The loosely governed borderlands of Myanmar have become a breeding ground for scam hubs, which are reportedly staffed by thousands of willing workers as well as people who have been trafficked from abroad since a 2021 coup that led to a civil war.

In a raid on KK Park, a notorious scam center along Thailand’s border, the military detained more than 2, 000 people in October.