A day after regime leader Min Aung Hlaing visited the Karen State capital of Hpa-An last week, two sources said army officers met members of the Karen Border Guard Force (BGF) with a directive: they had to suppress burgeoning scam centres on the Thai-Myanmar border immediately.
Online scam operations along the frontier are part of Southeast Asian criminal networks spanning countries including Myanmar and Cambodia that generate billions of dollars every year by defrauding people across the world, often using human trafficking victims.
At Sunday’s meeting, officers told BGF members—sanctioned in May by the U.S. Treasury Department for facilitating cyber scams, human trafficking and smuggling—that the instructions had come directly from Min Aung Hlaing, according to two sources aware of the discussions.
“[Min Aung Hlaing] met with military officials and stated that the scam centre issue was severely damaging the country’s international reputation,” said one source with direct knowledge, referring to the regime leader’s orders.
“He urged them to carry out an aggressive crackdown before the election,” the source added, referring to the regime’s 2025-26 elections, starting on Dec. 28 and continuing into January 2025, which has been widely derided as a sham to legitimize military control.
Although the regime has publicly said it is participating in a multinational effort to curb scam centres, the sources indicated the military’s urgency to conduct operations may have been linked with anxiety over possible U.S. actions.
Last week’s announcement of a new U.S. government “Strike Force”, which includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service, has raised particular concern in Naypiydaw, both sources said.
A military official at Sunday’s meeting with the BGF explained that they could not risk U.S. teams crossing the border to start investigations, one source said, describing him as saying: “We must solve the problem ourselves.”
Reuters is the first to report details of the internal discussions within the secretive Myanmar regime, which signal that, after years of allowing scam centres to gain ground, it is bending to growing international pressure.
Unlike other militias in the country, the junta has close links with the BGF, which the U.S. has said is actively involved in the scam centres.
A regime spokesperson did not respond to calls seeking comment. On Monday, regime media reported that Min Aung Hlaing had told military commanders at a regional headquarters to “eradicate” scam centres “as a national responsibility” but did not give details.
Buildings demolished, computers seized
By Tuesday, pro-regime forces, including the BGF, began operations around the frontier town of Myawaddy, a major hub for scam operations and human trafficking that houses multiple compounds.
So far, they have demolished over 180 buildings, detained over 1,000 foreign nationals and seized 2,653 computers and 21,750 mobile phone, regime media reported on Friday.
Naing Maung Zaw, the BGF spokesperson, told Reuters that the militia led the crackdown on its own headquarters at Shwe Kokko and the military joined the operation after being informed of the action.
“Our leader decided that cooperating with the military might make some processes smoother,” he said, “These operations are led by us.”
Scam operations in Southeast Asia originated from loosely regulated casinos and online gambling beginning in the 1990s, but rapidly expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic as criminal groups sought new sources of profits amid lockdowns and strict border controls.
Shwe Kokko, a major scam compound in Myawaddy, was set up in 2017 by the Hong Kong-registered Yatai International Holdings Group, initially advertised as a casino destination, according to the United States Institute of Peace.
The company has denied involvement in any criminal activities, including human trafficking.
After years of expansion, Myawaddy’s scam compounds came under the spotlight in January, following the high-profile abduction and release of a Chinese actor in Thailand that sparked a multi-national effort to dismantle the businesses.
But the regime in Naypyidaw largely stayed on the sidelines, saying it had limited authority in far-flung border areas – until now.
Jason Tower, a senior expert at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, said the U.S. announcement of the multi-agency “Strike Force” to dismantle the scam compounds was the game-changer.
Last week, Thailand extradited gambling kingpin She Zhijiang, who previously headed the Shwe Kokko complex, to China at Beijing’s request. He was arrested by Thailand in 2022.
“Two global powers pushing for a crackdown puts the Myanmar military and its BGF in a difficult position,” Tower said.
“The Myanmar military likely now sees increasingly clearly that more and more members of the international community are mobilizing to address the massive threat to global security that the scam centres present.”
REUTERS
