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Myanmar's subject said Wednesday (November 19, 2025) it raided an net scam hub connected the Thai border, arresting astir 350 people, portion of a highly publicised crackdown against the booming achromatic marketplace compounds.
Sprawling fraud factories person ballooned successful war-torn Myanmar's borderline regions, lodging scammers targeting net users with romance and concern cons worthy tens of billions of dollars annually.
Myanmar's junta has agelong been accused of turning a unsighted oculus but has trumpeted a crackdown since February aft being lobbied by cardinal subject backer China, experts say.
Additional raids opening past period were portion of a propaganda effort, according to immoderate monitors, choreographed to vent unit from Beijing without excessively severely denting profits that enrich the junta's militia allies.
Myanmar's subject descended connected gambling and fraud hub Shwe Kokko connected Tuesday morning, according to authorities media The Global New Light of Myanmar.
"During the operation, 346 overseas nationals presently nether scrutiny were arrested," it said.
"Nearly 10 1000 mobile phones utilized successful online gambling operations were besides seized."
Since a 2021 coup sparked a civilian war, Myanmar's loosely governed borderlands person proven fertile crushed for scam hubs which analysts accidental are staffed by thousands of consenting workers arsenic good arsenic radical trafficked from abroad.
But the junta's subject backer China has been progressively irked astatine the fig of its citizens who are some perpetrators and victims of the scams, experts say.
The junta connected Wednesday (November 19) blamed equipped absorption groups for allowing scam centres to run nether their protection, but said it had taken enactment aft wrestling backmost territorial control.
The Global New Light of Myanmar said the Yatai steadfast of Chinese-Cambodian alleged racketeer She Zhijiang was "the entity involved" successful moving the Shwe Kokko area.
She Zhijiang was arrested successful Thailand successful 2022 and extradited past week to China wherever helium faces allegations of engagement successful online gambling and fraud operations.
She Zhijiang and his institution Yatai were antecedently nether British and US sanctions.
Washington says helium transformed a colony connected the Myanmar-Thai borderline into Shwe Kokko -- "a edifice metropolis customized built for gambling, cause trafficking, prostitution, and scams targeting radical astir the world".
In October, Myanmar's junta announced raids connected adjacent scam centre KK Park, wherever it says it is presently demolishing much than 600 buildings.
A highly publicised expanse starting successful February saw astir 7,000 alleged scammers repatriated and Thailand enact a cross-border net blockade.
Scam victims successful Southeast and East Asia unsocial were conned retired of up to $37 cardinal successful 2023, according to a UN report, which said planetary losses were apt "much larger".
