China Executes 11 People Tied to Myanmar Scam Rings in Major Crackdown.
China has executed 11 individuals linked to criminal scam operations based in Myanmar, state media reported on Thursday, in a high‑profile crackdown on transnational fraud and related violent crimes.
The executions were carried out by a court in Wenzhou, eastern China, after the 11 defendants were sentenced to death in September 2025 for a range of offenses tied to organized scam networks operating from Myanmar’s border regions. The convictions were reviewed and later upheld by China’s Supreme People’s Court before the sentences were implemented.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said the crimes for which the executed were convicted included intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud and illegal casino establishment, reflecting the severity of their activities over several years. Among those executed were key figures in the so‑called “Ming family criminal group,” a network long associated with large‑scale telecom and online fraud operations that targeted victims through fake romantic relationships, investment schemes and internet scams
Authorities allege the Ming family’s criminal activities contributed to the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to many others, as well as extensive financial harm. The syndicated fraud and illegal gambling operations it ran were part of a broader illicit industry in Myanmar’s lawless borderlands, where online scam compounds have proliferated.
The executed individuals were part of a larger group prosecuted in 2025 that included additional defendants given death sentences with reprieves or prison terms ranging from five years to life imprisonment. Authorities say the scope of the scam operations generated enormous sums and involved complex networks across borders.
Beijing has stepped up cooperation with neighbouring countries and intensified efforts to dismantle cross‑border scam networks, including repatriating thousands of suspects from Myanmar to face trial in China. Officials say the crackdown aims to tackle what they describe as a “cancer” of gambling and fraud affecting citizens and global victims alike.
Scam compounds in Myanmar and neighbouring Southeast Asian states such as Cambodia and Laos have drawn international scrutiny in recent years for exploiting trafficked workers and defrauding victims around the world. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has warned that hundreds of thousands of people work in such centres, often under coercive conditions.
China’s decision to carry out the executions underscores its uncompromising approach to combating organized crime, particularly syndicates operating from beyond its borders that have inflicted both financial damage and loss of life.
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