Officials from China, Thailand, and Myanmar agreed jointly to target a notorious telecom scam hub in the Burmese city of Myawaddy, reports China’s state media. Officials from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos also attended the meeting in Kunming, Yunnan province. The initiative aims to use the Lancang-Mekong cross-border law enforcement mechanism to crack down on gangs running scamming organizations staffed with human trafficking victims.
Myanmar’s ruling military junta said it had deported more than 50,000 suspected scam workers back to China since October 2023. The scam gangs take advantage of the ongoing war between the junta and various ethnic militias. While some militias drove gangs away, others indulged them, as do the Burmese authorities.
